Major improvements to the A64 near Malton - including the long-awaited Rillington bypass and the closure of three dangerous gaps - have come a step closer to reality.

The Highways Agency has revealed it is set to go out to public consultation on a raft of schemes to improve safety on the busy trunk road between York and Scarborough. These include:

Closing gaps in the central reservation through the construction of underpasses or flyovers at the Barton Hill junction, the Whitwell on the Hill junctions and possibly at a junction on the road between Whitwell and the Malton by pass.

l Dualling the single-carriageway stretch of road between Whitwell and the Malton bypass.

l Constructing a bypass at Rillington by re-routing the A64.

The developments were revealed in a letter from Peter Nutt, acting chief executive of the Highways Agency, in reply to a question by Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh.

A Highways Agency spokesman said today there had originally been a scheme for a Rillington by-pass, which was dropped in favour of plans to dual the whole road between York and Scarborough.

"In 1996 this scheme was also dropped, but when the Government came into power in 1997, they looked at making small-scale improvements. A Rillington bypass was one of those improvements and consultants have been looking at routes.

"It should be going out to public consultation in the near future. This is the continuation of a process that has been going on for some time."

Coun Stephen Cawood, chairman of Rillington parish council, said today: "The council is keen to see the bypass happen, and so are keen to see the next stage get underway. We are just waiting for the public consultation exercise to take place."

The Agency said the public would also be consulted later this year or early next year on the improvements to the three junctions. "Consultants are looking at various options: they could be flyovers or underpasses."

But he could not say how much the schemes would cost, nor when any of the work could get under way. This would depend on whether any objections to the proposals were received, forcing a public inquiry.

Meanwhile, whole series of other "low cost" safety improvement schemes, each costing less than £100,000, are also underway or are being planned at various locations along the A64.

The agency has also unveiled plans for a £1 million mini-bypass of Osgodby on the A63 near Selby, which will tame a notorious accident blackspot at the junction of the A19 and A63.

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