A69 Improvements

Just to the roundabouts at Corbridge and Hexham. Replacing them with bridges or tunnel under existing roads. Nee dual carraiging anywhere extra

This is the joke 'fob-off' package we've been saddled with while the A66 is duelled.

This will not in any way improve the road or lower journey times between Newcastle & Carlisle. I
t will reduce the wait between 8-9am to get in to Hexham and reduce the waiting time for poor sods looking to pull out of the junction onto the A69 from the A68 Corbridge roundabout.
Everything else stays just as dangerous and slow as ever.

We can expect a handful more 'Gatso' Speed cameras to pop up in the meantime too, just for fun.

The road should be dual carriageway all the way.

Don't think you can improve a 69.

CCU wrote:

News & Star @newsandstar

Highways England reiterates that £30m for A69 must be used in Northumberland #Cumbria #CumbriaRoads #Northumberland newsandstar.co.uk/news/17761445.…

10 Jul 2025 15:56

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May as well set fire to that £30m then...because the monkeys running Northumberland council will waste every penny of it.
They'll be lucky to have enough to resurface the two roundabouts by the time they've stopped arguing about the plans for it.
It's an absolute pile of dog turd they've settled on...

I read somewhere the money they're wasting on the roundabouts would have duelled the full length between Haltwhistle and Brampton....which would you rather have? If that's right they should be immediately sacked from position for gross incompetence.

The road is dual carriageway up until Hexham, it's the cumbria bit and up to Hexham that needs the money spent on it. Bloody central government!

Northumberland and Cumbria agreed it would be dualled from Newcastle to Carlisle. But Northumberland aren't allowed to dual roads until they dual the a1 under some rule they have, and they don't have the money for that. Cumbria won't dual their bit until Northumberland dual their half and hence the impasse. This is Opperman therefore wanting some money spent from central funds on roads, so he can boast how he is improving transport links when in reality he is doing bugger all

ParcelPete wrote: Don't think you can improve a 69.

You can when a female participates.

Markovitch wrote: Northumberland and Cumbria agreed it would be dualled from Newcastle to Carlisle. But Northumberland aren't allowed to dual roads until they dual the a1 under some rule they have, and they don't have the money for that. Cumbria won't dual their bit until Northumberland dual their half and hence the impasse. This is Opperman therefore wanting some money spent from central funds on roads, so he can boast how he is improving transport links when in reality he is doing bugger all

I'm not sure about the A1 bit, I think from folk I've talked to over the years it's more to do with the fact that compared to many roads in the South it has a shadow of the volume of traffic on it by comparison and therefore is just never high enough up the priority list to dual the A69...one even said that it needs a spate of high profile deaths on it before it'll be taken seriously.

Regards Opperman...he's without the shadow of a doubt the worst incumbent we've ever had in Hexham. A totally self serving, lying and idle MP.

The number of things he's signed off on that have a profound and unforgivable effect on his own constituents, particularly regarding Healthcare and NHS services is disgusting.
He's the master of passing the buck, it's never his fault, not even the lady who killed herself under so much stress because he and his department denied her the pension she was rightfully owed, she took her own life with about £5 left in her account.
So if he's got a hand in improving our infrastructure expect it to be delayed while others get their wish and if we et anything it will be a shambles.

There's always accidents on it.

CCU wrote: Ironically there’s been several bad accidents in the last couple of weeks between the Brampton roundabout and Hexham, road closed couple of times etc.

I've sent him emails, letters, posts on facebook in which he's tagged reminding him of just how many of these there are...trust me he doesn't give a shit.

I was quite sad to hear that HH. He was my MP when my wife was refused entry to the UK. She is a British Chartered Accountant and spent many years at the UN. I sent him an email at 4pm on a Saturday, his staff replied at 4.30 and on the Monday morning about 11 called to say a letter had gone to the FCO. I don't like his politics but his staff were brilliant

I’m not a fan of Opperman myself and he’s our MP-he is however more in tune with the electorate than a previous Hexham MP who was caught on Hampstead Heath-not playing with badgers.After that experience, the local party are keen to avoid extroverts and plump for normal. Opperman is nothing if not normal.

Peter Atkinson was a decent guy though he kept his head down most of the time.

On Hampstead Heath ?

ParcelPete wrote: On Hampstead Heath ?

Pete - Do you think you should change your username Finbar Saunders?

Laffy, Alan Amos got me a passport when Liverpool Passport office were being absolute imbeciles....I had a running battle for months where they'd take my form off me, then send nothing out, you'd contact them only to be told you'd not done some seriously minor like not cross "t"
I lost my rag and phoned Amos and in two days I had a passport....he may have been up to no good on the heath but he got me a passport

Would that be the same Peter Atkinson that 'kept his head down' by reading from the phone book in parliament to make sure a piece of legislation couldn't be debated and passed?
He was a real stand up guy, that little move earned him universal contempt in the house because it was so vapid!!!

Problem for Amos was that kind of love action didn’t sit well with the Hexham Association-the chat at the time was that he had no reason to be in London at all other than to visit the park.By all accounts, he was a hard working MP though.

Atkinson was an establishment choice-after the Hampstead incident, no surprise.He was the only Tory mp in the NE for a while though he nearly lost the seat.

Opperman floats around but don’t really see him sticking his neck out to be honest.