New hospital in Northumberland benefits from expert advice
Press release
12th October 2012
New hospital in Northumberland benefits from expert advice
Construction work is due to start imminently on the development of a specialist emergency care hospital at Cramlington in Northumberland.
The hospital is part of the £200m NHS investment to improve healthcare for people in Northumberland and North Tyneside and will take around two years to complete.
The site was identified following rigorous analysis and advice provided by award winning WYG’s Transport team based in Leeds who confirmed there were no alternative sites which were suitable, available and viable.
Multidisciplinary consultancy WYG’s Transport Planning team provided highway and traffic advice to the Trust and the design team throughout the planning process, which included the preparation of a Transport Assessment and Travel Plan to support of the planning application.
The site is close to the A19 to the north of Newcastle which is a sensitive part of the strategic highway network. WYG engaged with both Northumberland County Council and the Highways Agency to avoid any delays to the application and to ensure that the impact of the development could be accommodated without undue impact on existing traffic conditions.
Mitigation works to accommodate the traffic impact were designed for the site access, the A19 Moor Farm Roundabout and the Front Street/Lamb Street junction, which were all agreed by Northumberland County Council and the Highways Agency. Representatives from both WYG’s Transport and Buildings and Infrastructure divisions, dealt with Section 278 works to achieve an early start the site access roundabout. The Section 278 works for the Highways Agency improvements are currently being progressed.
Jim Mackey, Chief Executive, Northumbria Healthcare said: “This will significantly improve access to some of the best emergency care available in this country and internationally for the 500,000 people of North Tyneside and Northumberland.”
Geoff Bowman, Regional Director, WYG said: “The highways issue was identified as a major risk for the project at the outset in terms of timescale and cost. However, we were able to agree an appropriate access solution with Northumberland County Council and the Highways Agency to mitigate the traffic impact and to provide access by all modes of transport, including ambulances arriving under blue light conditions.’
WYG also completed the detailed design of the site access and procured a contractor to ensure a start on site to a very demanding timescale.
Notes to Editors
WYG is an established global management and technical consultancy to the built and natural environment that collaborates with clients in over 40 countries to help them realise their corporate and project ambitions.
A top 15 European consultancy and employing more than 1,400 people around the world, WYG has the expertise for every stage of a project’s life-cycle from planning and design to building and completion.
WYG takes enormous pride in the work it does and has been recognised with several prestigious industry awards including: British Expertise International Awards 2011; RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Gold Medal Award 2011, National Recycling Awards 2011.
Lisa Losardo
PR & Communications Executive
T: 44 (0)113 3821048
E: lisa.losardo@wyg.com
