TRANSPORT Secretary Chris Grayling was given a tour of Yate’s ‘Road to Nowhere’ during a visit to South Gloucestershire on Thursday.

Mr Grayling was in the area to meet Thornbury and Yate MP Luke Hall and West of England mayor candidate Tim Bowles to discuss their plans to improve the local transport network.

Visiting the South Yate Link Road, an unfinished stretch of dual carriageway not open to vehicles which was started and partially completed in the 1970s, the trio talked about Mr Hall’s campaign to complete the route as part of his ‘Get South Gloucestershire Moving!’ campaign.

The campaign has had a lot of support from the community, with a survey conducted by the MP showing 90 per cent of respondents were in favour of completing the road, with Mr Bowles and South Gloucestershire Council’s conservative leadership team also backing the plans.

After the meeting, Mr Grayling praised the ongoing campaign to improve transport links across the county, adding how impressed he was by Mr Bowles’ “vision” to do the same across the West of England.

Following the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership being awarded £52.8million by central government, it is now hoped that a feasibility study can be done into completing the road.

Mr Hall said: “I am delighted that there is real momentum for my campaign to Get Yate Moving, demonstrated by the Transport Secretary’s visit to the proposed South Yate Link Road today.

“Working alongside Tim as Mayor and as part of a strong team of MPs, councillors and council leaders, we can really drive forward and deliver on the transport projects, infrastructure and networks our town needs, such as completing Yate’s link road.

“Tim is the candidate best placed to join me in talking directly to the government of today, pressing for more investment in South Gloucestershire and ensuring we are not left behind as we have been in previous decades.”

Having met with the likes of the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary and Communities Secretary in recent weeks, Mr Bowles has said that improving the local transport is one of his top priorities.

“Having the right transport infrastructure is vital for the local economy,” he said. “If elected I will continue to work closely with the strong team of Conservatives locally, the government, councils and others to push forward schemes like the South Yate Link Road.”