It may be the middle of summer but today work has started on a new maintenance compound to help keep East Yorkshire’s roads open and safe throughout the winter.
The £3.6m National Highways site is being built at Green Park Business Park just off the M62 at junction 38 near Newport.
The compound will house a salt barn capable of holding 3,500 tonnes of salt, a workshop for vehicle maintenance, storage for snowploughs and other equipment, and a single storey office.
Three gritters will be based there, responsible for salting more than 70 miles of the M62 and A63 from Hull docks in the east to Ferrybridge, West Yorkshire, to the west. There will also be parking for 21 cars and ten bicycles and electrical vehicle charging points will be installed.
The compound will also be used as an equipment store and for the deployment of year-round maintenance activities such as roadworks, grass cutting and litter picking.
These activities currently operate from a leased depot at nearby South Cave. The new compound is part of a move to bring more sites into National Highways ownership to ensure value for money.
National Highways regional director for Yorkshire and the North East Simon Boyle said:
We are delighted to be starting work on this new facility that will help keep road users safe in the grip of winter.
Just as South Cave does now, the Green Park location will give us good access to the M62 and A63 meaning we can respond to conditions quickly and efficiently, salting these key strategic routes at optimum times.
South Cave has served us well but having a new site under National Highways ownership means it is more cost effective to our business and therefore to the taxpayer. The contract to design and build the compound has been awarded to Kier, a leading provider of construction and infrastructure services.
Alan Smith, operations director for Kier Places, said:
This new building will house vehicles, salt and other maintenance products to allow National Highways to effectively maintain local roads and support road users in east Yorkshire.
Over the duration of this project, we will be utilising modern methods of construction and we are proud to be working with a number of local and skilled supply chain partners to help us deliver this important new infrastructure.
Construction is not due to impact traffic on either the M62 or local roads and is expected to be complete in May 2022.
National Highways operates its winter maintenance service from 1 October to 30 April each year.
Read more about how we keep road users safe and moving throughout the winter.
General enquiries
Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.
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Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.
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