Decision due next year on A64 upgrade - report

Congestion often builds up at the A64 Hopgrove roundabout

A final decision on a scheme to upgrade part of the A64 to a dual carriageway will be decided on next year by the government, according to a new report.

Campaigners have long called for improvements to the road, which links Leeds, York and Scarborough, to cut congestion and boost the economy.

However, road bosses have warned the proposed multimillion-pound project, between Hopgrove and Barton-le-Willows, was "high cost but low value for money".

A report for North Yorkshire Council's transport, economy, environment and enterprise overview and scrutiny committee said a decision on the scheme would be confirmed by the government in March as part of the next Road Investment Strategy (2026-2031).

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, councillors are expected to debate a motion later this week requesting support from the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire and local MPs for the project.

Conservative councillor Keane Duncan, who submitted the motion, also called for cross-party work with national and local political representatives to secure the work on the A64.

'Long-overdue upgrade'

The report to the committee included an update from National Highways which said work had been done to find savings on the plan, which would be built alongside the existing road between the Hopgrove Junction and Barton-le-Willows.

However, it added: "While we found elements of the design that could be altered, the changes would have required additional changes elsewhere on the route.

"Therefore, we were unable to find reasonable savings, so the overall scheme costs remained high with low value for money."

Highways England said these findings had been shared with the Department for Transport in 2023 and no further technical work had taken place on the scheme since, the report stated.

In response to the update, Duncan said National Highways' attitude to turning that stretch of the A64 into a dual carriageway was not new.

"Funding formulas under successive governments have consistently prioritised the South, leaving rural and coastal areas like North Yorkshire overlooked and underinvested," he said.

"While National Highways can make their assessment, the final decision is a political one. It's the government that must choose whether to back this long-overdue upgrade."

Duncan said making that stretch of the A64 a dual carriageway would "unlock North Yorkshire's economic potential" and prevent further road tragedies.

Members of the scrutiny committee are due to discuss on Wednesday what recommendations on the motion should be made to the next meeting of the full council in November.

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