CALLS to upgrade the A64 between York and Scarborough to two lanes will be discussed in a high-profile Government meeting, a minister has revealed.

In a move that will please campaigners, minister for transport John Spellar indicated that the future of the road would be considered at a meeting at Westminster next week.

Delegates from North Yorkshire County Council, Ryedale District Council and Scarborough Borough Council will meet the roads minister, David Jamieson, on Tuesday in a bid to highlight concerns about the busy highway.

There has been a long-running campaign from residents and councillors to upgrade the road to combat congestion and frustration during the busy summer period. Single-lane sections of the road are also considered to be accident blackspots, with dangerous junctions and bends the cause of a number of crashes and near-misses in recent years.

Mr Spellar said: "There will be a meeting about the A64 next week. It is certainly one of the roads that's being looked at with a long-term problem."

North Yorkshire county councillor Peter Sowray, executive member for environmental services, said dualling would be a key topic that delegates would be bringing up with the minister.

Meanwhile, Mr Spellar further outlined plans for a massive upgrade for the A1 in North Yorkshire. Yesterday he announced details of a £263 million scheme to provide a full motorway link between the North East and the rest of England.

Three sections of the carriageway will be developed from two lanes to three lanes - between Bramham and Wetherby, Dishforth and Leeming and Leeming and Barton. The project, costing around £9.3 million per mile, is due to begin in 2006 and finish in 2011. Once complete, the new road will deliver continuous motorway access between Gateshead and London via the A1(M) and M1.

Closing arguments

WE launched our campaign four years ago after two people lost their lives in separate accidents on the A64 between York and Tadcaster.

In both crashes, vehicles were being driven through a gap in the central reservation at Colton Lane End when they were struck by other vehicles coming along the dual carriageway.

Our campaign to close several such gaps on the A64 between York and Tadcaster won instant support from hundreds of motorists, many of whom had themselves either been involved in similar crashes or narrowly avoided such a fate.

Businessman David Tuckett said he had driven more than 800,000 miles in 20 years but reckoned he had never come across a more dangerous stretch of road. Tadcaster head teacher David Impey said he feared for the safety of his pupils who came along the A64 by bus each day to school. Garage owner Lon Fila said he had lost count of the number of friends and customers he had lost in crashes on the road, and he backed the campaign even though it would mean lost business for him.

The dangers were further exposed when a video surveillance operation set up by the Evening Press showed lorries making hazardous U-turns through the gap, with their trailers sticking out into the carriageway and blocking the path of other drivers.

The campaign achieved one victory in 1999 when the Highways Agency announced that the gap at Colton Lane End was to close as a safety measure.

But the agency and Government refused to close a similar gap only 200 yards along the road, which serves the development of restaurants and hotels at Bilbrough Top.

The agency insisted it could not close that gap until the flyover had been built to provide a safe crossing over the A64 for local traffic.

But the accidents continued. In one crash, a woman came close to an horrific death when her car turned into a fireball after being struck as she was trying to cross through the gap. She was dragged free from the car just in time.

In December, 1999, the Evening Press presented a dossier to Roads Minister Lord Whitty exposing the dangers and a 800-signature petition calling for the gap's urgent closure on safety grounds.

The Minister said he would ask for a special report outlining options for improving safety, and said he would hope to see the gap for himself when he visited North Yorkshire.

But it soon became clear that the agency would not budge: there would be no gap closure until a flyover was built. Last year's public inquiry meant further delays, but now the agency can press ahead with its plans. Work should now start on building the flyover next year, with completion in 2004. Then - finally - six years after the dangers were first exposed, the gap can finally be closed.

Updated: 12:28 Wednesday, June 26, 2002