Scrutiny plea after road project delays

THERE'S been fierce debate among politicians and pundits in recent years over the spiralling costs of big rail projects such as HS2.

- ROB PARSONS

But when flagship road projects start to go off track do they get the same level of scrutiny? A case in point is the A66 Northern TransPennine upgrade, set to dual the existing single-carriage sections of a 50-mile stretch of the major road between Cumbria and North Yorkshire, which passes through Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Richmond patch.

The road - seen as a key local, regional and national route for east-west journeys in the North - currently 'repeatedly widens and narrows, making it prone to congestion and delay, according to National Highways.

But the government is now facing calls to investigate the project by a Northern Labour MP who  says costs to the taxpayer 'are spiralling out of control and there is no economic case for the proposal.