HIGHWAYS officials have applied for a compulsory purchase order for land adjoining the A64 which has been included in plans for vital safety improvements to the road.

The Highways Agency has also applied for an order to close two gaps in the A64 at Steeton House Farm and Redhill Field Lane, near Bilbrough Top, as part of the overall plans to build a new safer junction and flyover.

The two applications each require a three-week consultation period and they have been timed to coincide with the end of the overall consultation period for plans for the junction, the deadline for which is March 2.

Alice Insley, a Highways Agency spokeswoman, said: "We have published the orders, but they're still open to objection. We need to have any objections in for this by March 2. Then we look at the objections and decide if we need to go for a public inquiry."

The Highways Agency said the £3 million project at Bilbrough Top, between York and Tadcaster, must be completed before it was willing to close the notorious gap in the central reservation where so many accidents have occurred.

Local residents want a series of measures, including overhead lighting and traffic calming, backed up by speed cameras, to improve safety until a flyover can be built.

Peter Moffatt, the Highways Agency area manager, revealed that the Agency was looking at "further interim safety measures for this section of the A64," which he said would be implemented during 2001.

The flyover, which will provide a safe crossing over the dual carriageway, could be completed by spring or summer of 2003.

But if local objections were raised which could not be resolved, it would be necessary to hold a public inquiry, and this would delay completion by another year.

In one recent accident teenager Jamie Sanders, of Northallerton, lost his life while trying to negotiate the road at Bilbrough Top on foot.

The Highways Agency is planning safety improvements for pedestrians at the location.

The contact for information regarding the compulsory purchase order is Keith Gorst on 0113 2835354 and the contact for the gaps closure application is David Oxtoby on 0113 2836446.

Updated: 12:37 Saturday, February 10, 2001