Motorway set for major expansion
MULTI- MILLION pound planned upgrades to one of Hyndburn’s key roads have been set out.
Transport for the North (TfN) bosses said the M65 is one of seven ‘key corridors’ that need ‘strengthening and extending’ to bring the north west region up to the standard of London and the south east.
The organisation has been tasked by the Government’s transport secretary with developing a cohesive ‘strategic plan’ so it can bid for the road and rail infrastructure improvements.
MP Graham Jones has previously said there is support on both sides of the Pennines for a project to extend the M65 to meet with the A1M in Yorkshire, and transport secretary Chris Grayling ‘is not adverse at this stage.’
TfN chief executive David Brown addressed Hyndburn councillors at a recent full council meeting, and set out the following claims:
● There has been ‘significant underinvestment’ in northern transport schemes ‘for decades’.
● The M65 is one of the ‘key corridors’ needed to better connect East Lancashire and North Yorkshire.
They want to plan road and rail improvements which will last for 30 years.
Mr Brown said: “Our economic performance is lower than it should be because we’ve had an underinvestment in significant transport schemes in the north of England for decades.
“We have to produce one strategic plan so the north can then make the case for that investment.
“London has had one for 20 years and you see that there’s a lot of money funnelled into the south east and into London.
“That’s because they have one plan with a clear set of priorities and both public and private sector lobby government for the funding work.”
Council leader Miles Parkinson said ‘prosperity and connectivity’ are ‘crucial’ to the borough’s future.
He told the meeting: “We’ve seen the major investment at Manchester Airport and by the Chinese and that needs to be linked in like a spider’s web.”
Conservative council group leader Coun Tony Dobson said he would also like to see an extension of the tram service from Bury to Hyndburn.