IT was a long and tortuous road that led to yesterday's historic announcement on the future of the A66.

By August 1997, the road was already known by those who regularly took their lives in their hands to travel it as the most dangerous in Britain.

By then, hundreds had already been injured or killed and countless grief-stricken families had borne the cost of the Government's failure to improve the road.

And it was then - as Tony Blair settled down to lead the first Labour administration in 18 years - that The Northern Echo declared to the new Prime Minister: "Enough is enough."

With the support of all three emergency services, flagship local authorities, safety campaigners and haulage associations, the paper demanded that the Premier should finally fix the A66.

Only a few months earlier, local campaigners had been pinning their hopes on a £20m injection from the Tory Government for desperately-needed upgrades. They received £130,000, the kind of money that buys a few signs and paints a few more lines on the road.

Within days of the Echo's campaign launch, political heavyweights had lent their support, then Tory leader William Hague and Labour stalwart Derek Foster demanding an end to the carnage.

As the campaign grew, and support poured in from every section of the community, grieving relatives and drivers who had survived terrifying near-misses came forward to tell their stories.

In October 1997, Robert Weatherall, of Barnard Castle, told how his son, Martin, had been trapped inside a crushed car for an hour after a smash.

"There is no way that accident would have happened if the road had been a dual-carriageway. It is a dangerous road - the facts speak for themselves. The cost in life and misery to those involved is too much," he said.

In November, the Echo's campaign found its way to Whitehall's corridors of power - only for a £70m upgrade to be rejected by then Transport Minister Gavin Strang, who insisted: "Britain cannot build its way out of transport problems."

But still the mayhem continued, the death of an elderly man and severe injuries to his two passengers prompting the Echo to ask on February 26, 1998 - For how long must the carnage go on?

Our editorial read: "How many more deaths and serious injuries will the British Government and the European Commission tolerate before they accept that the A66 is in desperate need of upgrading?"

The paper singled out Tony Blair himself, illustrating the fact that when votes were at stake, he had been fully committed to the cause.

"We can only conclude that, with the election win tucked safely in his back pocket, the A66 no longer registers on Mr Blair's political radar," we said.

By March, after our scathing criticism, immediate safety improvements had been ordered. But accident after accident on single carriageway stretches demonstrated that full dualling of the Scotch Corner-to-Penrith stretch was the only answer.

The following year brought yet more deaths and the focus shifted to the growing North-South divide, with the North seemingly losing out on improved road and rail links.

In March 2000, consultants who had been called in to prepare a major safety report began their work, eventually leading to a package of short-term improvements - including speed cameras and junction upgrades - being announced.

But, not settling for second best, both the Echo and the determined A66 Completion Group forged ahead with demands for full dualling, buoyed by national TV and radio surveys dubbing it the worst road in Britain.

The often needless loss of so many lives has been awful, but it must now be hoped that, with the end in sight, The Northern Echo's drive for a safer community can save many more.