Five Year Delay on A64?

Community leaders across the political spectrum have voiced dismay after the Secretary of State for Transport suggested a long-awaited scheme to upgrade the A64 into a dual carriageway would be delayed by years.

Elected representatives of communities reliant on the A64 between Scarborough and York have urged the government to prioritise the scheme after Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper revealed major changes from the Hopgrove roundabout north of York to Barton le Willows would be among 30 major projects being postponed.

In a ministerial statement, Mr Harper said the scheme would continue to be developed, in line with the statutory process, but works were now being considered for the five years after 2030, rather than the expected roadbuilding scheme in the five years before 2030.

He said the “extra time” would help ensure better planned and efficient schemes could be deployed more effectively.

The statement comes just weeks after roads minister Richard Holden announced he was “pushing for” improvements to the A64.

A public consultation on the scheme being held last summer 2022, which attracted more than 1,100 responses.

After decades of campaigning by politicians in the Ryedale and Yorkshire Coast areas National Highways started examining how it could be upgraded in 2016.

Alongside safety improvements, there is a consensus among councillors and MPs that the upgrade would generate a huge economic boost for the area.

After learning of the potential delay, North Yorkshire’s transport boss Councillor Keane Duncan asked the Transport for the North Board to
“hold the Government’s feet to the fire” to ensure work on the A64 and other key road projects remained on track.

Speaking to mayors and council representatives from across northern England, Coun Duncan called for clarity about the minister’s statement, saying both he and MPs had interpreted it as meaning the scheme would be set back by years.

He said:

“The key project for North Yorkshire is the A64. I like to use every opportunity I can to raise awareness of that and push the case.

“That is significant delay and I think that should give rise for concern. I think we need to have sight on this and would like us to hold Government’s feet to the fire on delivery and timescales.

“I think we really need to push the case on this and express our concern about yet further delay on some very key schemes, not just for North Yorkshire but for the whole North.”

Conservative councillor for Derwent Valley David Jeffels said the campaign to improve the A64 had been running for more than 40 years.

He said:

“We have had so many false dawns on this scheme. This is very disappointing news especially as we are seeing increasing volumes of traffic using the A64. It is no longer just a holiday road, it carries heavy traffic throughout the year, and this decision is going to have a very detrimental effect on Yorkshire coast and Ryedale businesses.”

Independent Malton division councillor Lindsay Burr criticised the fresh delay as “pathetic”. She said:

“They never nail down when the upgrade will happen. They just give us false hope.”

Scarborough councillor Tony Randerson, a Labour member, added while the government claimed it was doing what it could for the North, the area had  missed out on levelling up funding.

He said:

“Saying it is being delayed to enable better planning is just fobbing us off again.”

The statement made by the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper reads:

"During this Parliament there has been a step change in public investment in infrastructure. The Autumn Statement protected the public capital budget at record levels, meaning government will invest over £600 billion over the next five years. The Chancellor has announced over £40bn of capital investment in transport across the next two financial years, which will drive significant improvements to rail and roads right across our country.

Since agreeing this programme, we have seen headwinds from inflation, triggered by the impact of Putin's illegal war in Ukraine, as well as supply chain disruption as the global economy recovers from the effects of Covid-19.

These headwinds have made it difficult to deliver on our capital programmes, and we recognise that some schemes are going to take longer than expected. Refocusing our efforts will allow us to double down on delivering the rest of our capital programme. This will place our transport investments on a sustainable footing and allow us to support the Government’s priorities of halving inflation, growing the economy and reducing debt.

In terms of major road investments, Road Investment Strategy (RIS) 2 schemes will continue to progress. The A27 Arundel and A5036 Princess Way in Liverpool both face a range of challenges including environmental considerations and ongoing scope and design changes to ensure stakeholders’ views are fully considered. As a result, these schemes will be deferred to RIS 3 (covering 2025 – 2030). Other schemes earmarked for RIS 3 will continue to be developed, in line with the statutory process, but for consideration for inclusion during RIS 4 (beyond 2030). Given many of these schemes were previously expected towards the end of RIS 3, this extra time will help ensure better planned and efficient schemes can be deployed more effectively."