AN extra £400,000 has been earmarked by borough chiefs to spend on a major road project near Crewe.

At full council last Thursday, Cheshire East Council members voted to set aside an extra £400,000 to be used on the A500 dualling project between Weston and junction 16 of the M6 – meaning CEC’s total contribution to that scheme will be £4.5 million.

The additional funding for the A500 dualling will allow the scheme to progress while CEC waits on the outcomes of planning applications and a funding application from the Department for Transport.

Welcoming the project, Cllr Steve Hogben, Labour member for Crewe South, said: “It is important that we get on with this particular scheme because the plans for this sort of dualling have been made over many, many years – decades.”

Cllr Janet Clowes, cabinet member for adult social care and integration, added: “There is no doubt, in terms of the wider economic benefit it brings, that we do need to get on with this project.”

CEC members also voted to set aside an extra £1.8 million on the Congleton Link Road – taking the total spend to £23.8 million.