THOUSANDS of motorists on the A64 are to be stopped and questioned to help determine the future of the key route through North Yorkshire.

The Highways Agency plans to stop a total of 14,000 drivers on the road between York and Scarborough to carry out roadside interviews.

It says it wants to ask them a few brief questions about their journey to help build an up-to-date picture of traffic patterns.

About 7,000 motorists will be stopped on two separate days at undisclosed lay-bys, with police being used to tell drivers to pull over.

The dates are not being revealed in advance to avoid motorists avoiding the road on those days.

The agency says the sample will be between a third and a half of all the motorists going along the road.

Each interview will take about one minute, with up to four interviewers employed at peak times to ensure motorists do not have to wait to be quizzed.

The agency says the information is needed to continue developing a route management strategy for the A64.

This is intended to help the agency spend money more effectively, and identify and tackle issues so it can improve the road.

The agency wants to make road planning tie-in better with regional transport and planning decisions, and make sure local people have their say.

"We hope drivers will help us with these roadside interviews," said project manager David Phillips, who claimed the survey was essential to provide the agency with up-to-date traffic information.

"Delays to motorists will be kept to a minimum while drivers are asked a few brief questions."

Updated: 11:15 Saturday, April 21, 2001