Key Milestone Reached on Doncaster's 'FARRRS' Airport & iPort Link Road

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones with Richard Howson, Chief Executive of Carillion alongside the ECML bridge at FARRRS

Mayor Ros Jones marked a major milestone for the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) by visiting the recently completed bridge that will eventually carry the road over the East Coast Main Line.

The 12 metre high bridge is an important part of the three mile link connecting the south of Doncaster at Parrott’s Corner near Rossington to the motorway network.

Works are progressing well with the changes to the Parrott’s Corner junction, where FARRRS meets the A638 and the imminent completion of the last of six bridges needed to carry the road over watercourses and rail lines.

The road has been built on embankment consuming approaching two million tonnes of locally sourced fill material predominantly from the former colliery site at Rossington.

Commenting on the new East Coast Main Line bridge, Mayor Jones, said: “It is tremendous to be on site and see first-hand the progress being made. This is an important infrastructure scheme for Doncaster and the wider Sheffield City Region which unlocks major private sector developments that deliver thousands of new jobs and give the economy a significant boost. The completion of the bridge has been a major engineering feat and it enables the project team to press on with the building of the embankments for the remaining sections of FARRRS.”

Richard Howson, Carillion Chief Executive, said: “This is a hugely significant infrastructure project and I am delighted to be here to see the excellent progress that is being made on the scheme which will bring many benefits to the area for years to come.”

The first phase of the Doncaster Council led £56million FARRRS project received financial assistance from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund, backing from private sector partners Harworth Estates, the Peel Group and Verdion and is supported regionally by the Growing Places Fund and the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership. The main contractor for the works is Carillion.

The FARRRS link road which speeds up journey times to Doncaster Sheffield Airport and unlocks developments along the route like the £400million iPort will open in early 2016.