A local Councillor says politicians need to speak honestly about the prospects of the A64 being upgraded and a local MP bemoans a lack of vocal support for the idea from some other local leaders.
Politicians need to get real about the prospects of dualling the A64.
That's according to one local councillor who says the public are fed up with false hopes over the road upgrade idea.
Hunmanby and Sherburn Councillor, Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff, says residents have lost hope in the scheme being delivered after 40 years of inactivity.
"The public have really had enough, of us all making promises to simply never get delivered. And every time somebody sees this story, the response on social media is , here they go again.
And it is, it is actually damaging into trust in all of us and that's why now I just don't, I don't even put on my leaflets 'cause I'm just, I'm wasting people's time. They know I'm wasting their time. They know I'm just putting it in and saying it, but it's not actually. And so it's how do we actually make some of these things happy happen so people actually have faith in what we're saying.
The lack of progress in delivering projects to dual the remaining single carriageway sections of the road was debated by local councillors at a recent meeting of North Yorkshire Council's Thirsk and Malton Area Committee.
The meeting was attended by Filey and Pickering MP Kevin Hollinrake, a long time supporter of the proposal to upgrade the road, he says he will continue to "call out" local politicians who fail to support calls for the A64 to be dualled.
The MP admits his own party failed to get the road upgraded when it was in power but says he feels some current local politicians are not giving the idea the vocal support it needs.
This is always gonna be difficult to deliver because the benefit cost ratio is low. We should be clear with people about that. I've always tried to be clear with people about that and make the case together to try and get it delivered.
Now, of course you can blame governments of both sides who've been in power over the last 40 years, and I accept that totally. But what I've always tried to do with this is not be political about it, but equally well, I'm gonna call out people who don't support it. I think that's perfectly reasonable.
You know, I don't blame, I wouldn't blame anybody , if they don't deliver on it, I do blame them if they won't vocally support it.
North Yorkshire Council has formally reiterated its staunch support for the dualling of the A64 last November with a vote securing wide cross-party backing for the essential road upgrade.
The decisive vote followed a recommendation from the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee to uphold the motion which
- Reiterates the council's support for the dualling of the A64;
- Agrees to write to the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire and the Members of Parliament for York Outer, Thirsk & Malton and Scarborough & Whitby requesting confirmation of their support for this essential upgrade;
- Commits the council to working on a cross-party basis with national and local political representatives to secure this essential upgrade at long last.
The council’s resolution aims to strengthen the demand for investment in infrastructure for rural and coastal regions of North Yorkshire, including areas supporting strategic employment sites and future housing growth in the Ryedale and Scarborough areas.
The final decision on the proposed project to dual a section of the road from Hopgrove near York to Barton-le-Willows rests with the government and is expected as part of the next Road Investment Strategy (2026-2031) in March 2026.
in an update to North Yorkshire Council in October, road bosses warned that the latest assessment concluded that the multi-million pound project was “high cost but low value for money”.
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