A SUNNY weekend, and everyone wants to be out and about. Families plan trips to the coast, to York, to the region's attractions and shopping centres.

But for thousands this weekend, these high hopes quickly turned to frustration as they stewed in miles of traffic queues. There were jams coming into York and jams going out. Motorists trying to escape the A64 gridlock brought jams to York city centre too.

It was a similar story today. Long before the normal rush hour, traffic was at a standstill on the A64. Those who crawled into work did so knowing the journey home would be equally tortuous.

Today one of North Yorkshire's leading entrepreneurs put a figure on what this chaos has cost him: £150,000. Multiply this figure by the number of businesses in the area, and Stuart Paver's estimate that the retail trade has lost £100 million does not seem an exaggeration.

Time, as every business knows, is money. The A64 hold-ups delay deliveries and meetings; put tourists off visiting the area; persuade shoppers to go elsewhere; and generally clog the arteries of commerce.

And this is just the financial price. As Mr Paver points out, thousands of idling engines are pouring out more pollution, while inside the cars stress levels soar.

His comments come on the same day as a survey for the British Chambers of Commerce found that delays on the railways were doing huge damage to Yorkshire industry. This region is going nowhere. Slowly.

The Highways Agency's management of the A64 upgrade has been called into question at every stage. Motorists stuck in this weekend's jams have complained of seeing little visible work being done on the lanes closed off.

City of York Council should press the agency to either open up more lanes at busy times, or to speed up the work schedule. The region cannot afford to sit and wait until summer.

Updated: 10:28 Monday, April 22, 2002