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The Mayor of Tees Valley has promised a study to explore the viability of a new crossing of the river Tees, funded by money from the cancelled parts of HS2. 

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, Ben Houchen demonstrated the 45 minutes it currently takes to travel between Redcar and Hartlepool. 

鈥淸That] just isn鈥檛 right, so because of that we are going to look at doing some work on an eastern crossing,鈥� he said, explaining that a new link could reduce journey times between the towns to just two to three minutes. 

Announcing the 拢1m feasibility study, Houchen continued: 鈥淲e are going to look at how much it would cost, where it could go, we are going to do some surveys to see whether it is physically possible. 

鈥淏ecause if we can connect Redcar and Hartlepool with each other, better connecting up employment opportunities, better connecting up our whole region, I think it is a really vital piece of work to do. 

鈥淲e can use some of the money from the cancellation of the Manchester leg of HS2 and we can put that towards the exploration of a new eastern crossing鈥�. 

The feasibility study will consider the possibility of a tunnel or a bridge over the river. 

The preference of the Mayor, who first tabled proposals for a crossing in 2018, is for a tunnel rather than a bridge, which has led the project to be dubbed the 鈥淭ees Tunnel鈥�. 

鈥淚 personally don鈥檛 think a bridge is the right idea as it could limit the size of ships that you get down the river,鈥� Houchen told BBC Tees, although he admitted that he did not a tunnel would be viable. 

Houchen has also committed to rebuild the railway station at Teeside Airport, which is set to be demolished next week. 

The station is one of the UK鈥檚 least used 鈥� with an estimated 338 passenger journeys made in 2019/20 鈥� and Houchen said it was 鈥渋n dire need of a makeover鈥�. 

The 拢20m scheme will also be funded through re-diverted HS2 cash, according to Houchen.