Emma Foody

I absolutely agree with the hon. Member—it is as if he has seen the key points of my speech. This is a critical piece of infrastructure in my area for all the reasons he said and more. One such game-changing project for the north-east would be the upgrading of the Moor Farm and Seaton Burn roundabouts. Those who do not know about these roundabouts have never heard me speak in this place, because I talk about them a lot. Moor Farm is a major, strategic six-armed roundabout that links the A19, A1 and A189 and sits to the south of Northumberland, on the border with North Tyneside. This heavily congested and well used roundabout is a key gateway across south-east Northumberland to the Northumbria specialist emergency care hospital in Cramlington and to the new data centre in Cambois that the Government have been pivotal in supporting. Seaton Burn links Northumberland and North Tyneside to the A1 and on through to Newcastle, as well as providing links to south-west Cramlington, an area of significant housing development, and the villages to the north-west of North Tyneside. These critical pieces of infrastructure form part of the south-east Northumberland corridor, as well being a key link to Blyth, Killingworth in North Tyneside, and Newcastle. Both roundabouts sit on the A19, which is of strategic importance to the north-east more widely, linking to the Port of Tyne, South Tyneside and Sunderland, and to key employment sites such as Cobalt Park, Follingsby Park and the International Advanced Manufacturing Park. In earlier road investment strategies, Silverlink and Testo’s roundabouts, further south on the A19, have been upgraded. Those earlier works significantly improved traffic flows on the A19 through the north-east to south-east Northumberland. It is now possible to travel north on the A19 from Thirsk in North Yorkshire all the way to south-east Northumberland without hitting an at-grade junction—until Moor Farm roundabout. Surely, now is the time to finish the job and complete the junctions to the end of the A19 at Seaton Burn. My area has seen significant housing developments in recent years, including estates such as St Nicholas Manor, the Fairways and West Meadows in Cramlington, and Backworth Park in North Tyneside, with future sites including Killingworth Moor and Murton Gap—all of which add pressure to the roundabouts. In 2022, the section of the A19 east of the Seaton Burn junction had an annual average daily flow of 44,300 motor vehicles, while the section of the A19 east of Moor Farm had an annual average daily flow of 33,900. The result is that the roundabouts are past breaking point. Do not just take my word for it; the Department for Transport’s own statistics show that, between 2021 and 2024, there was an 87% increase in delays through the northbound A19 section of Moor Farm, and a 36% increase southwards. The A19 section of Seaton Burn saw a 31% increase during the same period, which has a knock-on impact on the A1, with an 18% increase in delays joining Seaton Burn on the A1 northbound.