Council confident in outer ring road dualling

The upgrades along the A1237 from the A19 to the A1036 Little Hopgrove roundabout were approved earlier this year

The dualling of the York Outer Ring Road is still set to go ahead despite uncertainty over part of its funding, the council’s deputy leader said.

Pete Kilbane, of City of York Council, said the authority still intended to progress ahead with the £65m project despite the chancellor announcing some transport infrastructure schemes would be scrapped.

Roads minister Lilian Greenwood, on a visit to York, said all Department for Transport-funded projects would have to be "looked at".

Upgrades along the A1237 from the A19 to the A1036 Little Hopgrove roundabout were given council and government approval earlier this year.

The plan aims to reduce congestion and move traffic out of York city centre.

Mr Kilbane said: “Our plan remains to dual sections of the outer ring road as soon as possible and we continue with our work to progress this project.

“The York Labour administration is committed to improving transport infrastructure across the city centre, suburbs, and villages.”

Roads minister Lilian Greenwood spoke about the ring road while on a visit to York on Thursday

But speculation about the project's future was prompted by plans announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves to tackle a £22bn financial black hole, including unfunded transport commitments.

Following Ms Reeves' announcement, transport secretary Louise Haigh said she had ordered a review on future project spending.

"There are lots of transport projects that have been promised and we know we have that funding black hole," Ms Greenwood told the BBC.

"We're looking at the capital projects promised across the whole of the Department for Transport - we're doing that review at pace and will be making further announcements as part of the spending review in the autumn."

In response, Mr Kilbane said: "The money for the York outer ring road comes from a variety of different funding pots.

"The Department for Transport review is just one part of that, but we're carrying on as business as usual until we hear otherwise - and hopefully we won't."

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