Hartlepool’s ‘Nightmare Roundabout’ Set for More Changes After Barrage of Complaints
Back to the Drawing Board? Hartlepool Roundabout to Be Altered Again....
28th Sep 2026
A Hartlepool roundabout which attracted a barrage of complaints from motorists since undergoing a supposedly ‘major redesign’ is set to be altered yet again, after red faced out of town council officials admitted that further changes are now needed to improve traffic safety at the junction….
The A179 Hart Road, Easington Road and West View Road roundabout has already been dubbed a “nightmare” by some motorists following the introduction of traffic lights and revised lane arrangements & will now undergo yet another series of changes this week.
Hartlepool Borough Council says the latest work follows what its claiming is a period of monitoring after the major signalisation scheme was completed in late 2025.
The council says ‘monitoring’ identified several ways in which lane use could be improved, with new road markings and signs now planned in an attempt to reduce queues and make better use of the available road space.
It comes after drivers repeatedly raised concerns about the confusing layout of the junction, including confusion over lane positioning and traffic building up on approaches to what is one of the busiest routes into and out of the northern side of Hartlepool as well as a number of accidents & near misses.
Roundabout will close again
According to Hartlepool Borough council’s announcement, the roundabout will now be completely closed from 7pm on Wednesday 30 September until 6am on Thursday 1 October while yet more changes are carried out, with Motorists being advised to avoid the junction and use alternative routes.
The latest intervention comes nearly a year after a petition was submitted to Hartlepool Borough Council highlighting the dangers of the junction which according to motorists is now worse than what it originally was before the works took place.
What is changing?
One of the biggest changes to take place concerns drivers approaching northbound along the A179 Easington Road.
Under the original arrangement, both approach lanes were allocated to traffic turning left towards the A19. However, the council says its monitoring showed motorists frequently used only the left-hand lane.
Under the revised layout, the middle lane on the roundabout will be dedicated to motorists travelling towards the A1086 Coast Road, while the right-hand lane will become exclusively for drivers turning right into West View Road.
Changes are also planned for motorists approaching eastbound along Hart Road.
New signs and road markings will also make it clearer that both lanes can be used by vehicles turning right towards Hartlepool town centre.
Additional markings will be installed around the roundabout in an attempt to help drivers remain in the correct lane.
Meanwhile, on the West View Road approach, the right-hand lane will become right-turn only.
Council says changes could not have been foreseen
Reform UK Councillor Amanda Napper, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Neighbourhoods and Regulatory Services Committee, said the authority had promised to monitor the junction after the traffic lights were switched on.
She said the monitoring had identified “practical changes” which the council believes will make better use of the available road space, improve traffic movement and reduce queues.
Hartlepool Borough council maintains that some of the problems could not have been readily identified until the newly signalised junction was operating with everyday traffic, however the majority of motorists using the junction, specifically at busy times feel the junction itself has been poorly designed by seemingly ‘out of town’ council officials who’ve never had to use the junction themselves.
Nevertheless, Councillor Napper said the latest work demonstrated that Hartlepool Borough Council was listening to motorists and reviewing how the scheme operated in practice. This is despite a petition calling for the junction to be put back to the way it was garnering considerable local support.
Housing developments behind original changes
The junction was reportedly altered following transport assessments associated with the nearby Hartwell Park and Hartside View housing developments.
Those assessments concluded that fully signalising the roundabout was necessary because additional vehicles generated as the developments progressed would otherwise lead to lengthy queues.
The latest corrective works will also be paid for using developer funding associated with Hartwell Park and Hartside View, rather than directly from the council’s own budget.
Developer-funded highway improvements connected with expanding housing developments are not unusual in this area of Hartlepool. Earlier this year, the council also confirmed separate works at the A179 Tall Ships roundabout were required as part of the nearby Upper Warren housing development and funded by the developer.
Another attempt to get the junction right
The junction carries significant volumes of traffic between the town centre, West View, the Headland, the Coast Road and routes towards the A19.
The council has previously recognised the importance of lane allocation at the A179/West View Road junction. Its long-term transport planning documents have included alterations to lane markings at the West View Road roundabout among measures intended to give priority to A179 traffic However, what was intended to increase the junction’s capacity as thousands of additional homes are developed nearby has instead become a source of frustration for some motorists since its redesign with calls increasing for the junction simply to be put back to the way it was & for the council which in 2023 was declared an authority with no public confidence to simply stop wasting taxpayers money.
