State of the Nation 2013: North East

These are challenging times for the UK, for the North East region and, in particular, for the civil engineering industry in our region. The absence of a clear strategy for transport in England has left the North East at a disadvantage. This deficiency is compounded by the absence of a regional body undertaking the planning and prioritisation for transport investment.

Significant areas of congestion on road and rail networks are constraining the region’s economic development. Car ownership in the North East is still growing, which will inevitably put extra strain on an already congested network. Infrastructure resilience has been tested by serious weather events, and a lack of long-term planning has left the region vulnerable to disruption and delay, and exposed to costly emergency repair work.