Call made for upgrade of A64 (From Gazette & Herald)

Call made for upgrade of A64

2:20pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News By David Jeffels

CALLS have been made for the A64 to be upgraded to cope with the increasing volume of traffic.

County Coun Janet Sanderson, whose Thornton-le-Dale and Wolds Division includes part of the trunk road, said there were major issues around safety and maintenance.

“The blatant fact is that the A64 is now too small for the volume of traffic which it is expected to carry.

It bisects the villages which I represent from Rillington to Staxton,” she said.

“It is a common misunderstanding that North Yorkshire County Council is responsible for the road, so it is vital that we have proper accountability and representation from the body which is responsible – the Highways Agency.”

Her comments come after a key meeting at County Hall involving the authority’s transport, economy and environment scrutiny committee, Ryedale, moors and coast area committees and Roger Wantling, the agency’s senior officer for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Coun Sanderson said the agency was now proposing to send a senior officer to scrutiny meetings.

“But it is also vital that this body understands how relatively small maintenance issues can affect the lives of people living at the side of this busy road,” she said.

“It is now high time for a major overhaul of this neglected stretch of valuable infrastructure to Ryedale and the coast from West and South Yorkshire.”

Mr Wantling said it was hoped to improve the balance of the traffic light system at the Hopgrove roundabout on the outskirts of York, to speed up traffic flows.

The committee said it was vital for improvements to be carried out to the A64 because of its importance to the economies of both Ryedale and the Yorkshire coast businesses.