The government recently granted development consent for the £1.3bn A66 Northern Trans-Pennine dualling. Balfour Beatty plc, Kier Group and Keltbray are waiting to begin the project, which will be delivered under an enterprise-wide collaborative working agreement.
Organisations will work on upgrading the remaining 18 miles of single-carriage way sections and key junctions on the route between M6 Junction 40 (Penrith) and the A1 at Scotch Corner.
Archaeological work and utilities diversions are currently taking place along the A66.
Once the period for challenging the DCO expires next month, the Government will then review any need to approve the full business case for the scheme.
The A66 Northern Trans-Pennine project is one of the most critical road upgrades beginning in the North of England, designated by the Government as a 'Project Speed Pathfinder' Project.
Under the plan, teams have a goal of halving construction time for the project, aiming to bring forward the opening by five years to 2029.
National Highways Project Director, Stewart Jones, commented; "We are delighted to have received approval and to be able to give the people of Cumbria, County Durham and North Yorkshire some positive news.
“A lot of hard work has gone into getting us to this position. Now we can push on and deliver this project as efficiently as possible.”
National Highways first recommended improving the route in 2016. After public consultations in 2019 and 2021, a decision to proceed was initially expected last November but was pushed back to March to allow for further impact assessments.