York and North Yorkshire mayor welcomes A66 upgrade news

The mayor of York and North Yorkshire has welcomed confirmation that the A66 upgrade is to go ahead

David Skaith said the decision to press ahead with the £15bn trans-Pennine upgrade project was “great news for the region”.

The Department for Transport this week confirmed that the project would go ahead after the scheme was put on hold as part of a spending review of major infrastructure projects.

Mr Skaith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s a really great announcement from the government.
“We know it’s been called for quite some time and having a government really get behind it and get the funding for it is absolutely critical, not just for the safety element — we know it’s an incredibly unsafe road —but also because it’s going to have a real positive impact on freight and bring in tourism, particularly into the Dales. It’s incredibly great news for the region and we’re really looking forward to having it start.”
Prior to the spending review, National Highways previously said work would begin on the upgrade this coming winter, but this has not been confirmed since Tuesday’s announcement.

Instead, Department for Transport (DfT) officials said this week that the start would depend on further announcements from the government on its third Road Investment Strategy. Mr Skaith said he was unsure of the start date but would keep in touch with ministers on the issue.

A motion will go before North Yorkshire Council’s full council meeting next week asking the authority to write to the mayor asking for confirmation of his support for upgrade work to the A64 between York and Malton. The need to dual the route from the Hopgrove Roundabout to Barton-Le-Willows has been discussed for a number of years, but successive Conservative and Labour governments have failed to commit funding to the work.

The mayor said he got “slightly frustrated” about being asked about the A64. He added: “I think people feel like if you’re not shouting from the rooftops on a daily basis or going on social media and talking about it, then it means you’re not actually doing anything about it.
“We’ve we raised this from very early on when I first came into post about how important this is. It has been around for a very long time. The business case, because of the green book, has never really added up, but obviously we are working with the government to really press the importance. But I think we’ve got to be realistic that this is a project that’s been bandied around for many, many decades and we now really need to show why it is an important piece of infrastructure for the North, but understanding that there is only so much money to go around.”

DfT officials say proposals to improve the A64 between Hopgrove Roundabout and Barton-Le-Willows could be considered for possible delivery as part of a future road investment strategy beyond 2031.