What Happens Next?

Transport and Works Act Order

An application for an Order under the Transport and Works Act, seeking the powers needed to build the New Tyne Crossing, was submitted to the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions on 31st May 2002. The application was accompanied by:

o detailed plans showing the proposed route and affected land and property;
o a 'Book of Reference', giving addresses of all properties directly affected;
o a request for a Planning Direction and proposed draft Planning Conditions;
o details of proposed temporary and permanent road and footpath closures and diversions; and
o an Environmental Statement describing the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment outlining measures to be taken to remove or reduce any adverse impacts.

The Secretary of State determined that a Public Inquiry was required and defined the matters that were to be considered at the Inquiry. The Inquiry commenced on 4th March 2003. For further details refer to the Public Inquiry section of this site. After the completion of the Public Inquiry the independent Inspector wrote his report to the Secretary of State who subsequently approved the scheme on July 21 2005.

Project Procurement

The TWPTA will need to appoint a Concessionaire to finance, detail design and construct the new tunnel, operate and maintain all the tunnels. More information about this process can be found under the Procurement menu of this site.
The initial stages of this process, the selection of a shortlist of bidders, commenced in spring 2004. This was not intended to pre-judge the outcome of the Inquiry and was carried out solely to enable the earliest possible construction of the tunnel should it be approved. The TWPTA will send out the main procurement documents once all the associated processes are complete

Construction could start in 2007 and is expected to take about three and a half years. The following programme is indicative of the current estimated dates of events, but changes may occur as the project develops.