All eyes on Hull as transformative upgrade opens

A £355 million upgrade that will completely transform travel in Hull and boost the city’s economic growth has fully opened today (Thursday 26 March), following the latest major milestone.

National Highways’ A63 Castle Street scheme will unlock greater connections, improve journeys and help the Port of Hull to thrive. In a major step forward towards an exciting new era, the underpass at Mytongate Junction opened to traffic this past weekend.

Frances Oliver, Senior Project Manager at National Highways, said:

“This eagerly anticipated new road layout will increase connectivity between the centre of the city and the port and other leisure activities, boosting the local economy and tourism.

“Construction of the A63 underpass has been one of the most complex engineering challenges in the UK. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we’ve worked to get to this significant milestone, and we know how excited everyone is to have this section open.

“Technical design played a key role in overcoming the extremely challenging ground conditions near the Humber.”

Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Haltemprice, said: “The completion of this project will come as a real relief to local residents and it’s great to see it finally opening. 

“People have put up with a lot of disruption for a long time, but I hope that as journeys become quicker and more reliable, they’ll feel that the wait has been worth it.”

Following the opening of the underpass, engineers completed the connections of the entry and exit slip roads and Commercial Road to Ferensway, ready for the full opening by Thursday morning.

National Highways is advising road users to follow updated road signs, stay in lane, and take extra care as the road layout has changed. The new change to the road layout will allow the two eastbound lanes and the two westbound lanes to run either side of the new underpass.

A new junction has been created by lowering the level of the A63 at the Mytongate junction. Ferensway and Commercial Road will cross the A63, creating a split-level junction. Between Princes Dock Street and Market Place the eastbound carriageway has been widened to three lanes.

This will create better journey times and safer connections between the city centre and the retail and docks area.

The scheme has also unlocked funds for the local area with more than £103,000 charitable donations made through National Highways’ Community Legacy Fund and through contractor Balfour Beatty.

National Highways’ Community Legacy Fund aims to create positive change. By integrating community legacy work into daily operations and collaborating with its supply chain, the company ensures that every project has a positive impact. 

The four key themes of social value are economic prosperity, environmental improvement, community wellbeing and equality, diversity and inclusion.