(Image: Supplied)
A multi-million-pound scheme to make walking and cycling safer and easier in a North East town has entered its second phase.
The £6.2 million Hartlepool Town Centre Connectivity Programme will improve roads, walkways and cycle routes across the town centre.
The scheme will build or upgrade three miles of routes linking the Headland, the town-centre marina and Seaton Carew seafront.
Adrian Barton, managing director of BCE Northern Ltd, the civil engineering company delivering the scheme, said: "This project will significantly improve connectivity for walkers and cyclists across Hartlepool, making it a much safer and attractive destination for people who both live in and visit the town.
"The roads in and around Hartlepool town centre are often very busy, which isn’t ideal for the cyclists who are forced to share the road with motorists.
"Many of the walkways were also in need of resurfacing, so these are works which were crucial to the regeneration and long-term growth of the town."
The scheme will also improve the area around the new Highlight leisure centre at Jackson’s Wharf and Catcote Road via Burn Valley Gardens.
The latest phase covers the Waterfront and Maritime Avenue areas and is due to finish in the autumn.
Hartlepool Borough Council is managing the project, funded by the Tees Valley Combined Authority and TravelActive England.
Brendon Colarossi from Hartlepool Borough Council said: "It’s fantastic to see these connectivity projects coming to fruition.
"It is absolutely crucial that people who live in, work in and visit our town can move around safely and freely, and this scheme, which covers a three-mile radius around the town centre and marina, will enable them to do just that.
"The work that has been done so far has been finished to such high standards of workmanship and management, and undertaken with minimal disruption in the area, so we’d like to thank the BCE team and the lads on the ground for their hard work and professionalism.
"It’s also great to see the next phase of the project underway ahead of schedule."
Mr Colarossi said: "As a council, we are fully committed to driving and supporting Hartlepool’s continued development and regeneration, securing investment that will bring much-needed footfall, job creation and development works to our town."
BCE Northern Ltd, based in Lowfell, Gateshead, was appointed to deliver the two-year project after a competitive tender process.