PLANS to go out to consultation on dualling the A64 east of York have been delayed - as a councillor has warned that it needs more support to ensure it goes ahead.

Highways England (HE) originally hoped to present its options for a new dual carriageway at public consultation events this autumn.

But it has revealed it is now carrying out further assessments to fully understand future traffic growth at the Hopgrove roundabout and on the main carriageway itself.

“Once that has been completed we will be in a better position to present our options,” said a spokeswoman.

She said that as part of a road investment strategy, HE was developing a scheme for consideration for construction in 2020-2025.

“This work is investigating congestion on the A64 in the Hopgrove area now and in the future and any ultimately proposed scheme will aim to improve capacity and safety, make journeys more reliable and also support future regeneration, economic development and the regional economy.

“Various options are being looked at which include both junction improvements and dualling of the A64.”

The Press, which launched the Dual Them! campaign calling for dualling of the A64 and York Outer Ring Road, reported last December that four detailed dualling options were being examined. HE said then it had concluded further improvements at Hopgrove alone would fail to deal with notorious congestion problems, and the pinch-point created by the single carriageway east of it had to be tackled.

Two of the options followed the route of the current A64 for 1.8 km from Hopgrove and then took a new alignment before re-joining the current A64 near the Jinnah Restaurant, but details were not revealed. Another option followed the current route as far as possible to reduce costs and environmental impact. A fourth option would only dual as far as a new roundabout at Towthorpe Moor Lane. Two further options for improving the Hopgrove junction further were also being assessed.

News of the consultation delay comes after York councillors backed calls by Strensall councillor Paul Doughty for officers to engage with the business community to encourage active support for the scheme, work with neighbouring local authorities to organise business support and write to both York MPs to ask them to back it.

Cllr Doughty said he had attended a presentation by HE to parish councils east of York, at which officials said discussions were underway between stakeholders, landowners and HE about the potential dualling.

“However, while discussions are underway and we expect to see some potential proposals made public next year, the scheme is likely to have to compete against other schemes nationally for investment,” he said.

“This is where we come in and can give sustained and vocal support as (HE) officers indicated this could make the difference. Our aims should be to get this on the ‘HE’ priority list so it is chosen to go forward.”