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TRANSPORT SECRETARY Alistair Darling is under pressure to start upgrading
Page 8
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a 17-mile stretch of the A46 in the East Midlands to dual carriageway by 2008.
The Highways Agency admits the section between Widmerpool and Newark is heavily congested and has a poor safety record, but funding shortages have put back widening indefinitely.
Because the road is classed as a regional rather than a national trade route, the estimated i2l0m cost has to be met out of the regional funding allocation for such projects.
But the East Midlands Regional Assembly says the allocation amounts to only £70m a year. '`We're trying to demonstrate to the minister that its a nationally important route,says a spokesman.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Nottingham Evening Post both argue that the scheme should start in 2008, as originally planned by the Highways Agency. The newspaper says there have been 45 deaths and hundreds of serious injuries on the route since 1990.
ETA regional head of policy Stephen Kelly says: "We're now faced with more delays and prevarication on upgrading a route crying out for improvements."
According to Highways Agency figures, up to 15% of the 16,200 to 25.300 vehicles using the route every day are LGVs. Kevin Ellison, owner of Gillivers Haulage in Newark, says: "It's probably one of the busiest single-carriageway roads in the country. From Newark and Lincoln it's the only way to get to the West Midlands."
The Highways Agency says Darling will make a decision about the scheme's future after a public inquiry later this year.