A North Yorkshire councillor has said failure to dual the A64 would be a 'travesty' for the county.

Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transport, has expressed fears that plans for the A64 will continue to stall, or worse could be abandoned altogether, following the election of a Labour government.

He said: “The new Labour government has a welcome focus on bus and rail, but sadly there has been a deafening silence on the nation’s road infrastructure pipeline.

“What is more, previously-approved plans to dual the A1 in Northumberland have just been scrapped.

“It raises real fear that plans for the A64 will continue to stall, or worse could be abandoned altogether.

“This would be a travesty for North Yorkshire."

The issue was raised at a full meeting of North Yorkshire Council last week.

Cllr Duncan added: “This county, in particular our coast, will never be able to compete with the south, or the rest of the north, without roads that are fit for purpose.

“The A64 should not be an ideological issue. Our position should be determined by nothing other than the daily reality facing residents, visitors and businesses.

“This A64 suffers major congestion that’s strangulating our economic growth.

“Extra buses or trains will not address these fundamental issues. A road upgrade is the only real way forward. Therefore, we must keep fighting.

“It will rely upon councillors in this chamber, of all parties, uniting together to ensure the government delivers.

“We need a clear statement too from our Labour mayor and our new Labour MPs. Do they support the dualling that is so essential?

“We need their strong and vocal backing to keep hope of dualling the A64 alive.”

The MP for Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake has also expressed frustration over an “apparent lack of full support” from York and North Yorkshire’s elected mayor, David Skaith, for the campaign to dual the A64 between Hopgrove Junction and Barton-le-Willows.

Labour mayor David Skaith replied to Mr Hollinrake in a letter, stating that he agreed the A64 is “crucial to improving connectivity and reducing journey times and congestion”.

He said that officers from the Combined Authority were currently undertaking a “Scarborough to York corridor study to assess and evaluate all the options available to improve connectivity, such as rail and bus”.

The mayor added that he would “continue to raise with Government the importance of the A64 as part of the broader corridor between Scarborough and York”.

Mr Hollinrake said: “The dualling of the A64 is a shovel-ready project that our communities have been waiting on for far too long.

“It is disappointing that mayor Skaith has not thrown his full weight behind this vital initiative and while I welcome efforts to improve regional connectivity, the focus must remain on delivering the A64 upgrade as a matter of urgency.”