Preferred options to complete dual A66

Roads

The Government has announced the preferred options to complete the dualling of the A66 Transpennine road between the M6 at Penrith in Cumbria and the A1(M) at Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire. 

The proposals include five new bypasses, junction improvements and an underpass at the congested Kemplay Bank roundabout near Penrith.

Highways England said all the options chosen were the most popular in a public consultation held last year. The schemes are:

• a northern bypass of a three-mile section between Penrith and Temple Sowerby
• the northern bypass option for Kirkby Thore
• the most northerly of two options bypassing Crackenthorpe
• taking forward the single option to dual a five-mile section between Appleby and Brough alongside the existing section of single carriageway
• similarly, converting a 1.9-mile section of the route north of Bowes – the current, single carriageway Bowes bypass – into a dual carriageway
• a bypass south of the Old Rectory between Cross Lane and Rokeby instead of a conversion, which would have required demolishing buildings
• the most northerly of three bypass options linking sections of existing dual carriageway between Stephen Bank and Carkin Moor
• an underpass instead of a flyover at Kemplay Bank

All the preferred options will now go into a period of further analysis, development and design before a second public consultation and scrutiny period next year.

Highways England has also announced the award of the £45m design contract for the project to Amey Consulting in collaboration with Arup.

Powers to build the road improvements will be secured through the Development Consent Order process.