Cumbria’s business leaders have welcomed plans to dual the A66.
Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership said it will create opportunities for the county and was positive news.
The project – the biggest single investment in the North’s road network in a generation – will help transform the remaining single carriageway sections along the 50-mile stretch of the A66 between Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire.
The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project is a key part of the Government’s £24 billion investment into roads, it said.
Jo Lappin, chief executive of Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership said: “The A66 scheme will see the creation of a number of new job opportunities, apprenticeships and traineeships.
“Importantly, it will also improve safety on the route and make it easier for people to come and both work and visit here. Improving the route will help encourage visitors to come and experience all that Cumbria has to offer.
“We can see this delivering real value to Cumbria including bolstering connectivity to support inward investment across Cumbria. It will also help to better connect Cumbria to national and internal markets, providing opportunities for Cumbria’s transport reliant sectors like logistics, nuclear, energy and advanced manufacturing. It will really help support the county’s growth proposals.”
Cath Dutton, Careers Hub manager, added: “The Cumbria LEP’s Careers Hub has worked closely with Highways England to deliver a specific Teacher Encounters Project.
“This helps teachers enrich their curriculum teaching, and helps students connect their learning to jobs including the range of jobs in the construction sector from archaeologists to road design specialists.”
The route carries high levels of freight, with 25% of the traffic being HGVs, more than twice the national average for a road of this nature.
The improvements will also reduce delays and queues during busy periods and improve the performance of key junctions such as the A66/A1 and the M6 junction 40, National Highways said.
