Yorkshire will be among beneficiaries if A66 upgrade finally happens: Markus Campbell-Savours

The important thing for those of us in the rural north is that we see our fair share of that growth and the investment that enables it. The last decade has given us reasons to worry.

The Institute for Public Policy Research North has produced figures showing that between 2010 and 2020, the north missed out on £86 billion in transport investment compared with London – a lost decade that only leaves us weaker at a time when we need growth.

Last year the same think-tank calculated that total public spending on transport projects in 2023-24 was £1,321 per person in London, which is more than double the £615 per person spent on the north.

I see this project as a key enabler for delivering growth in my region.

The project will see the upgrade of approximately 50 miles of the A66 between the M6 at Penrith and the A1(M) at Scotch Corner, converting single carriageway sections into dual carriageways and improving countless junctions along the route.

The major benefits for the residents of Penrith will be the upgrades to the junction 40 of the M6 and the Kemplay roundabout.

I cannot count the number of times I have sat in traffic on those junctions, alongside local residents fighting through the commercial and tourist traffic, just trying to go about their daily business, with tourists stuck just at the beginning or end of their holiday in the Lake District national park or north Pennines, and the heavy goods vehicle drivers anxiously thinking about their tachographs.

There will be environmental benefits and economic benefits. We would feel as if the Government had prioritised the rural north, so often neglected by central Government.

This project will improve connections between Cumbria, North Yorkshire, the Tees Valley, Tyne and Wear, and beyond. It is the most direct route between the central belt of Scotland and the eastern side of England. It connects cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh with Leeds, Sheffield and Norwich, if those journeys are made by road.

Safety has been a huge concern along the route and there have been a number of avoidable deaths over the last few years.

The junctions of particular concern are in the Richmond and Northallerton and the Westmorland and Lonsdale constituencies.

The project will reduce road traffic accidents and deaths on the single-carriage section of the route.

It will improve strategic regional and national connectivity, particularly for hauliers – heavy goods vehicles, which account for a quarter of all traffic on the road, are double the national average.

It will reduce delays and queues during busy periods and improve the performance of key junctions such as the A66/A6 junction and M6 junction 40.

It might even occasionally stop me missing the train.

Markus Campbell-Savours is Labour MP for Penrith and Solway. This is an edited version of a recent speech he gave in Parliament.