Government gives go-ahead for A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project in North of England
A vital upgrade to improve journeys for hundreds of thousands of drivers along the 50-mile stretch of the A66 between Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire has been given the green light.
National Highways plans to upgrade the A66 route between Penrith and Scotch Corner in the North of England. The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project, which is a key part of the government’s £24bn investment into roads, will transform journeys along the A66.
The route carries high levels of freight, with 25 percent of the traffic being heavy goods vehicles and twice the national average for a road of this nature. Any delays to journeys can have an extremely negative effect on business, including lost working time and missed shipment slots.
The improvement work will also reduce delays and queues during busy periods and improve the performance of key junctions such as the A66/A1M and the M6 junction 40. This will mean local communities and businesses will benefit from the investment for decades to come.
Ahead of the announcement Turner & Townsend provided project leadership, programme management, project management, controls and performance, cost and commercial management and safety, health and quality advisory on the project, including Development Consent Order (DCO) project management and DCO support.
Turner & Townsend's Director Lee Hillyard, who worked on behalf of National Highways as the A66 Trans-Pennine Project Director, said:
This is fantastic news for National Highways to have received approval from the Secretary of State for Transport, Mark Harper, to begin work on the A66 Trans-pennine upgrade and improve the journeys for the people of Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire.
“We have supported National Highways in reaching this momentous milestone and our expertise in delivering complex road projects has allowed us to move the project along efficiently and effectively and prepare for the construction phase.”
