WORK on £380m scheme to create a continuous motorway-standard route between London and Newcastle remains on schedule to be completed in 2016.

Highways Agency managers said work to upgrade 12 miles of the A1 between Leeming and Barton to a three-lane motorway was progressing well, following nearly three months of work.

They warned the motorway project, which is expected to generate 750 jobs in the construction industry over three years, would see various overnight lane closures on the A1 and temporary traffic lights on local roads.

From Friday, April 4, work will get underway to install narrow lanes and 50mph speed limits on both carriageways of the A1 between Catterick North and Catterick South only.

Work on the remaining sections of the A1 is due to start after Easter, and more details will be available nearer the time.

It added work on the remaining one-mile section, between Scotch Corner and Barton, was subject to the outcome of a public inquiry into the route of the proposed local access road, which was held in February.

On completion of the upgrade, journey times between Leeming and Barton will be reduced by about 20 per cent, and over a sixty-year period, the improvements are predicted to save around 100 lives and prevent around 650 serious casualties.

Highways Agency managers will attend a public exhibition at Catterick Racecourse to update road users and residents about the scheme, and about its plans to create an alternative route for local traffic.

An agency spokeswoman said: “We are pressing ahead with work on this important upgrade scheme, which will deliver significant benefits to road users and businesses in both the local area and beyond.”

The exhibition will be held on Friday (March 21), from 2pm to 8pm and on Saturday (March 22), from 10am to 4pm.

For details, visit www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/a1-leeming-to-barton-improvement