The North East Sustainable Transport (NEST) coalition, of which NEPTUG is part of, have sent the following letter to local politicians and the press voicing concern that they are creating the impression that dualling alone can solve safety issues on the A1:
To: David Smith – MP North Northumberland, Kim McGuinness – North East Mayor, Joe Morris – MP Hexham, Cllr Scott Dickinson – Leader Northumberland Labour Group in response to your letter to Rachel Reeves, Chancellor of the Exchequer, June 2026.
CC: Cllr Glen Sanderson, Leader of Northumberland Council, Cllr Colin Ferguson, NEMSA Cabinet Member for Transport.
Dear David, Kim, Joe and Scott,
The loss of eight lives on the A1 in Northumberland this year is both tragic and unacceptable. No one should be killed or seriously injured while travelling.
This is not an isolated issue, however. Northumberland has a serious road safety problem. Between 2021 and 2025, over 800 people were killed or seriously injured in road traffic collisions in the county. This needs to be addressed now across the whole county, not in ten years’ time or for only 50 of the >3000 miles of roads in Northumberland.
Key actions that could be implemented quickly and cheaply to tackle this crisis are:
1. Speed limits set based on safe systems principles, so that if a collision does occur it will not be serious.
2. Widespread enforcement of speed limits via automated average speed cameras.
3. Safe crossings and safe cycling facilities (a fifth of KSIs in Northumberland are to people walking or cycling).
These could be implemented right across Northumberland within a few years for a fraction of the billions that would be needed to fully dual the A1. Doing so would save far more lives, be better for the environment, and the money saved could be used for projects that – unlike A1dualling, which National Highways judged to be poor value for money – would create a positive return for the local economy.
We are concerned that many Northumberland politicians are creating the impression that dualling alone can solve safety issues on the A1 and save the Northumberland economy. If dualling were that good it would have been done already.
The recent announcement that Council Officers will be working on the case for dualling is at best a waste of money, and at worst a distraction that will cost many more lives. This scheme was assessed and reassessed for over a decade under the last Conservative government and still no one has been able to make a viable case that it should go ahead.
The only choice is between wasting more time continuing to talk about something that most likely will never happen or taking immediate practical action to address the very real safety issues affecting residents across Northumberland.
Yours faithfully,
North East Sustainable Transport coalition.
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