Cargo Fleet Lane A66 roundabout reconfiguration

Efficient construction of the new A66 roundabout with minimal disruption to pedestrians and road users.

The project scope

Reconfiguration of a major roundabout on the A66 dual carraigeway trunk road to provide a through road across the centre of the roundabout. The roundabout remained in traffic and pedestrian use at all times and the project involved:

• Full survey and marking out.
• Laying of new ducting for electric, telecoms and pedestrian crossing services.
• Construction of new gullies and drainage systems in the kerbs.
• Construction of temporary footways to maintain pedestrian safety during construction.
• Construction of new permanent footways.
• Construction of new dual carriageway through the centre of a previously landscaped roundabout.
• Installation of street furniture and signage.
• Landscaping, including weed spraying, stone picking, top soiling and grass seeding.

Key quantities:

• Road planing: 15,500 m²
• Excavation: 2,567 m3
• Carriageway: 2,970 m²

Challenges & successes

This section of the A66 is extremely busy with high levels of traffic and pedestrian footfall. We were not allowed to reduce the number of traffic lanes or close any of the footways during the daytime. We overcame this constraint by working night shift so that we could reduce traffic to a single lane and by constructing the works in smaller sections.

All removed topsoil, kerbs, flags, blacktop and concrete was crushed, screened and reused in the works, saving material, disposal and transport cost whilst also significantly reducing the carbon footprint of the project.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, we took advantage of the quiet roads and low traffic flow to reschedule our work to deliver the project on time despite the additional social distancing and logistics constraints.