Two MPs with neighbouring constituencies along the A66 have have urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for an immediate start to the £1.5bn A66 upgrade scheme between Penrith and Scotch Corner.
Tim Farron, Libdem MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton, have written to the Prime Minister to express the need for the A66 upgrade scheme to get underway to save lives and help the local economy.
Work had been expected to be underway on upgrading the 50 mile stretch between Penrith and Scotch Corner to a full dual carriageway after the project was approved in March by the former Conservative Transport Secretary.
The upgrade of the A66, will if it goes ahead dual 18 miles of the road between Penrith and Scotch Corner that are currently not dual carriageway along with the construction of an underpass at Kemplay Roundabout carrying A66 traffic under the A6.
The upgrade has been thrown into doubt after the new Labour government included the A66 upgrade project in its spending review now underway by the Department for Transport with a number of transport projects across the UK now thrown into limbo placed on indefinite hold as part of the review leaving the A66 upgrade project future in question.
The review is also taking place alongside a high court legal challenge by a campaign group called Transport Action Network who have launched a legal challenge on environmental grounds to the planning consent granted last year by former Conservative Government.
Mr Farron and Mr Sunak have sent a joint letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to say that there have been 12 fatalities along the route’s entire length in 2023, and that the scheme would help to reduce congestion and boost the economy the pair have urged the Labour leader for an immediate start to the A66 upgrade project.
In the letter, the two MPs said: "I write to represent my constituents to ask for a meeting regarding the A66 running through my constituency and that of my co-signatory and constituency neighbour.
"As I explained in my question to you at PMQs on 4th September, the A66 has had at least ten fatal accidents in the last six years in the short stretch running through the Eden Valley in Westmorland.
"One hundred and ninety-eight collisions were counted from 2018-2023. In 2023 alone there were twelve fatalities along the route’s entire length between Penrith and Scotch Corner."
The letter, dated Monday (14th October), goes on to say that "the longer it is left under review, the longer our constituents are left in uncertainty, and the longer preventable accidents will continue".
The Department for Transport said that the review of transport projects is still ongoing, while a legal challenge against the A66 project planning approval begins at the High Court on October 23.