Transport Secretary, Chris Grayling, was this week lobbied by campaigning MP Graham Stuart as part of his bid to improve the problematic Jock’s Lodge road junction, to the south of Beverley.
Graham is pushing for a £40m investment from the Department of Transport’s Large Local Major Transport Scheme Fund to deliver a major revamp which will reduce congestion and improve safety for road users.
In December 2017, Graham met residents to hear their concerns before immediately writing a letter to the Transport Secretary in support of East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s Outline Business Case. The council are due to speak to Department for Transport officials to further discuss the viability of the scheme, with a final decision due to be made in May 2018.
The local MP has been a strong advocate of improvements to the junction, which has witnessed 18 accidents and 25 injuries in the past five years alone. He supports the ‘red option’ scheme, which would introduce a new roundabout layout at the A164 / A1079 intersection, and extended dualling of the A164 from Victoria Road roundabout to Castle Hill.
Graham also attended a public consultation held in late 2017, which saw 96% of residents say substantial improvements were needed. If successful, developers plan to be on-site by 2020 with the junction ready to use by 2022.
Graham said: “I was pleased to meet with the Transport Secretary and make the case for this vital road improvement scheme at Jock’s Lodge. The junction is a blight for local road users, clogging up our roads and it threatens to drive businesses and visitors away from our area.
“The odds are certainly against us, with competition from a range of projects around the country, but I am going to do everything possible to secure this important funding for our area. I was at the public consultation events in late 2017, and I saw how important local residents consider this revamp. As Beverley and the surrounding areas continue to grow, this problem is only going to get worse if not addressed now.”
