Campaign group loses bid to challenge plans to upgrade A66

A transport campaign group has lost its legal bid to challenge government plans to upgrade the A66.
The A66, which connects Redcar with Workington, currently has around 18 miles of single-carriageway between Scotch Corner and Penrith.
The previous conservative Transport Secretary Mark Harper approved the dualling of the A66 between Scotch Corner and Penrith, in March 2024.
Transport Action Network claim the £1.5bn project will increase carbon emissions by 2.7m tonnes.
Mr Justice Mould dismissed the High Court case on 25 October 2024.
In a ruling, the judge said the bid “does not raise an arguable basis” to claim the Secretary of State was wrong to approve the order.
He said: “The Secretary of State plainly took into account the need for the development in terms of national considerations and he also took account of the prospects and opportunities of carrying out the development elsewhere.”
The upgrades are expected to see a 30km stretch of single-carriageway dualled between junction 40 of the M6 motorway at Penrith, Cumbria, and junction 53 of the A1(M) at Scotch Corner in North Yorkshire.
The Transport Action Network say the scheme would reduce the “tranquillity” of the areas surrounding the North Pennines National Landscape.
It also said air pollution would harm blanket bog, an endangered habitat, and more than 18,200 trees would be felled.
But Mr Justice Mould said the transport secretary in the previous Conservative government, Mark Harper, “found a compelling need for the development to take place” and “considered whether there were any alternatives which might serve to achieve that compelling need”.
A spokesperson for National Highways said: “The legal challenge to the A66 Northern Trans-Pennine upgrade has been rejected at the High Court. We will update on next steps in due course.”
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