County backing for A64 upgrade (From Gazette & Herald)

County backing for A64 upgrade

11:49am Saturday 29th March 2008

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NORTH Yorkshire County Council says it will back the upgrading of the A64 "at every opportunity".

It follows news this week, reported in the Gazette & Herald, that the Government has issued a response to a petition asking for the busy road to be be upgraded to dual carriageway for its full length between York and Scarborough.

The response on the Downing Street website said that later this year the Yorkshire and Humber Transport Board, along with other regions, will be given the opportunity to review prioritisation decisions made back in January 2006.

At that time the A64 dual carriageway was not afforded a high priority by the board. The Government added that it will be for North Yorkshire County Council and other scheme promoters to put forward a fresh case for the scheme to the board later this year.

"The county council fully supports the provision of a dual carriageway for the A64 between York and Scarborough given the clear economic and safety benefits for Scarborough and the surrounding area," said Barrie Mason, head of network strategy at County Hall.

"However, this stretch of the A64 is trunk road and therefore any improvement can only be delivered by the Highways Agency, which is not in a position to fund proposals for projects that have previously been ranked very low by the Yorkshire and Humber Transport Board.

But the county council will continue to press at every opportunity for the upgrading of the A64 to dual carriageway.

''The County Council continues to work closely with the Highways Agency and is aware that a number of locations along the A64 are being investigated with a view to introducing improvements to achieve further safety benefits.''

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