£52m A19 upgrade near Sunderland completed

Highways England has built a new roundabout and footbridge at Downhill Lane as well as improving the existing A19

A £51.6m upgrade of the A19 near Sunderland has been completed.

Highways England said its Downhill Lane work will provide extra capacity on the junction between the A19 and the A1290.

It will also provide access to the planned International Advanced Manufacturing Park (IAMP) north of Nissan's plant, a spokesman said.

It is the third A19 upgrade completed in the last eight months after expansions at Testo's near Boldon and the stretch between Norton and Wynyard.

National Highways chief executive Nick Harris said the IAMP was predicted to create up to 7,850 jobs and attract £295m investment by 2027.

A new bridge for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders has been created

He added: "Having the infrastructure in place to support that is key.

"These improvements will make a major contribution to the region, from providing better journeys to and from the region's ports and Teesside airport, to improving journey times for local people."

A new roundabout has been created at Downhill Lane along with a 550-tonne bridge for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders as well as general improvements to the existing A19.

Highways England said the work took more than half a million people hours to complete

Highways England said more than half a million "people hours" were spent working on project with 60% of the workforce made up locally.

The scheme reused stone from the Testo's project and 100,000 tonnes of earth from a £75m upgrade of the A19 and A1058 Coast Road completed in 2019.