McLoughlin downplays cost overrun to "eagerly anticipated" A453 upgrade

The transport secretary today sought to downplay an increase in cost to the dualling of the A453 as he opened the £169m scheme.

Highways England's upgrading of an 11km section of the route between the M1 and Nottingham, which began in January 2013, today opened to traffic. Patrick McLoughlin said he knew as a lifelong East Midlands resident how important the upgrade, built by Laing O'Rourke, was to the region.

The urban part of the road through Clifton was opened in June, ahead of schedule, the DfT highlighted. The Department also pointed to the size of the job with 800,000 cubic metres of earth moved and 300,000 square metres of surfacing laid as part of the major scheme, whose opening was warmly welcomed by the local media.

HE's estimated outturn cost for the scheme, put on ice by the Chancellor in 2010 only to later be re-instated, had been £150m. McLoughlin said on BBC Nottinghamshire that "some schemes come in over budget, some under" but "the important thing is to get them open". The scheme remained within the anticipated cost range of £141m-£194m, including optimism bias.