Why dualling the A64 should be a priority for North Yorkshire - Carl Les

Tabled at the last meeting, as I said, but this issue has been around for many years. Indeed I believe this newspaper first raised the idea that a proper motor road was needed between Leeds and Scarborough so that folk could go more easily on their week’s annual holiday in 1913.

And that was in the days when rail was the dominant form of travel. That was part of the debate last week. There are some, our Labour colleagues and Mayor Skaith included, who believe that the answer to the congestion and safety concerns on the A64 lies in more sustainable Active Travel solutions, improving public transport connectivity especially frequency of rail connections, and better bus services, and they argued this way at the committee.

But this notion is in danger of missing the point. As more than one councillor said at the meeting, this is more than a holiday road, important though that role is especially at certain times of the year. It is not “just about day-trippers”, said one who represents a ward on the coast. I agree.

It is my view, held since long before I became a councillor, that dualling this road is the single most important public sector intervention that can unlock the growth potential of the coastal economy.

This is the European experience, validated over time, where good road links have been pushed out into all areas of the continent. This is not a replacement for rail improvements, it is in addition. Rail is good for mass transit, of goods as well as people, to travel to clearly defined destinations at a similar time, but we live in an economy where flexibility is also important, both of timing and destination. Hence the need for a road network that allows the smooth flow of trucks, vans and private cars, however they are powered.

A good road does not impede the increased use of green vehicles. Nor does it prevent increased travel by bus. Actually a lack of congestion and timely arrival times can enhance it. Journeys measured in minutes rather than hours.

Moreover there is the need for safety improvements to consider. How often do we hear of the A64 once again blocked by a collision, such an event importantly having all the dreadful personal consequences for those directly and indirectly involved and the economic consequences of delay and disruption to business.

The case for this investment can be well made to government, especially now the arbitrating ‘Green Book’ for Treasury decisions does not have to favour the large centres of population which has for generations promoted investment into London and the South East. To paraphrase a famous French writer, God no longer favours the big battalions. I hope so.

At the Scrutiny committee there was a view expressed that the business case should be done in two halves, first to the Malton area of economic activity and then to the coast itself.

I agree there are two distinct areas, both with identifiable potential for housing and business growth, but they must be conjoined, or else they run the risk of being considered in parts without the value of the whole being seen as greater than the two parts.

Options can soon become a wriggle room. Hopgrove to Jinnah might be seen as such a case, a sticking plaster solution that doesn’t have the traction to get it over the investment line.

So the suggestion is we write to our MPs, and the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire and the Combined Authority, asking for confirmation of their support. Nothing new in this, and at the risk of being accused of pre-determination, as we are one leg of the three legged stool that is the MCA, I think our support is clear.

Perhaps we need a new approach. The Mayor has the ear of government, so his support will be crucial. Not the sole, but part of a planned package of diverse investment.

Whatever our council decides next week, I hope we do not lose sight as well of our Cinderella, the A66, another veteran of the lack of investment foresight, and some improvements needed to the A65.

Fortunately there has been work done to the 66 in the half century since I started to use it regularly, but it is a sad indictment that there are still 17 miles to complete – only 17 miles, and not the most difficult topography like Stainmore or Bowes Moor – with all the benefits that would bring to travel and especially road safety.

Coun Carl Les is the leader of North Yorkshire Council.