Transport secretary pledges A66 dualling meeting

The transport secretary has pledged to meet with two MPs who are pushing for the A66 to become a dual carriageway.

Louise Haigh made the commitment to discuss the road, between Penrith and Scotch Corner, while answering a question in parliament on Thursday.

The previous government had given the go-ahead for the £1.3bn project to dual the A66 back in March.

The plans were put on hold when Labour announced it needed to review spending, saying it had inherited a "broken economy".

Known as the Northern Trans-Pennine Project, the route links Cumbria, North Yorkshire, the Tees Valley and Tyne and Wear.

Last month, Liberal Democrat Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale in Cumbria, and former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Conservative MP for Richmond and Northallerton in North Yorkshire, joined forces in calling for the project to go ahead.

During Thursday's transport debate, Sunak told Haigh 12 people had lost their lives on the A66 last year.

He said: "While there is a strong economic case for dualling, the road safety considerations concern me most."

Haigh said her government took road safety seriously, "particularly on that section of road".

She added it was in the process of developing the first road safety strategy in more than a decade and she would be "more than happy" to meet with Sunak and Farron.

Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].