Aureos begins construction on £45 million pound Howden Relief Road

A groundbreaking ceremony has marked the start of one of East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s largest construction projects, the Howden Relief Road.

The ceremony was attended by Councillor Anne Handley, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council and Councillor Gary McMaster, cabinet member for planning, housing and infrastructure. Representatives of the council’s contractor Aureos and the developer of the wider Howden north site, JG Hatcliffe Associates, were also in attendance.

Howden Relief Road is designed to reduce congestion by diverting heavy traffic.

The project will see the building of a link road between the A614 Thorpe Road and Station Road (B1228), together with four roundabouts, on what is currently farmland. 

The contract for the main works was awarded in June and is scheduled to take just over two years to complete. 

The relief road forms part of a broader planning application for the site by JG Hatcliffe Associates to develop a new area north of Howden for mixed residential and commercial use – including houses, services, businesses and green spaces – which is allocated in the East Riding Local Plan as HOW-G. 

The HOW-G development aims to create hundreds of jobs, bring businesses to the area and boost the local economy. 

The relief road project will be funded through a mix of developer contributions and council funding via Invest East Yorkshire, including a £2m Devolution grant and a £1m Local Transport Grant. 

Councillor Anne Handley, East Riding of Yorkshire Council leader said “This relief road is a vital piece of infrastructure, to ease congestion and help local residents. It will allow HGV traffic to avoid the town centre, to the benefits of motorists, residents and businesses in Howden”

“We’re proud to invest in infrastructure in our region, to improve transportation links and facilitate economic growth”

Works are programmed to be starting on the Thorpe Road side of the site and will move west towards Station Road, although the contractor will be working in all areas, including working on a new pump station for surface water to the south of the site to improve drainage. 

While the vast majority of the work will be carried out off road, there will be occasional traffic management on Thorpe Road and Station Road, although disruption will be kept to a minimum.