TRADERS and residents are to be given a chance to have their say over the future of the A64, highways chiefs have announced.

The Highways Agency is currently drawing up a ten-year strategy for the troubled trunk road - a draft of which will be published in December.

To help them decide what needs to be done, roads chiefs have announced plans to carry out a consultation with the general public and anyone with an interest in the road.

The announcement has been welcomed by Ryedale civic and business leaders.

The road has been at the centre of safety concerns after a number of fatal accidents.

Yesterday, the Evening Press highlighted the concerns of Ryedale MP John Greenway and senior Scarborough councillors that a lack of development of the main road was hindering the economic prosperity of the area.

They claimed the road was not coping with the volumes of traffic using it and that, unless the A64 was upgraded, jobs at major firms in Scarborough could be at risk.

A spokesperson from the Highways Agency said: "We are also currently undertaking a route management strategy for the road which looks at what it does now, and then examines what we need it to do in the future.

"We have held seminars in Scarborough and York where representatives of local businesses and councillors were invited to discuss their views on the road with the Highways Agency.

"This will see the start of a public consultation exercise, where we will be seeking the views of the general public and anyone with an interest in the road.

"Feedback from the public will help us finalise the strategy which will define our vision for the A64 over the next ten years."

Mr Greenway said he welcomed the consultation, but was concerned it would not present options sufficient to deal with the road's current problems.

"I am glad the public will have a say on what is to happen to the road - there is a real need to get people involved," he said.

Murray Naylor, North Yorkshire county councillor for Rillington, said the problems with the A64 were increasingly worrying.

"It is time something was done because the problems are not going to go away," he said.

But Jason Fitzgerald-Smith, of Malton and Norton Town Centre Management, which is backing calls for improvements to the road, said there had been enough consultation.

"I have no doubt that if the road is improved it will help the economic prosperity of the area," he said.

"But there has been so much consultation by the Highways Agency - they ought to just get on with sorting it out."

Updated: 08:40 Friday, November 23, 2001