Fears for future of 'missing link' road

IT'S described as the 'missing link' in the North's road network - so will the A66 across the Pennines ever be fully upgraded to a dual carriageway?

- ROB PARSONS

The trans-Pennine section of the route between Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire and Penrith which mixes sections of dual carriageway with infuriating sections of single carriageway has seemingly been on the verge of major investment for years.

A £1.3bn scheme to dual the whole route was announced by Rishi Sunak's government in March. But with the new Labour government now reviewing all major infrastructure plans as it wrestles with a major gap in the public finances, it may not go ahead after all.

This week, Mr Sunak, whose Richmond and Northallerton covers much of the route, took the unusual step of joining with a rival MP in the next door constituency to call for it to be dualled after a "chilling" number of deaths on the road.