HULL should prepare for "short-term pain but long-term gain" after a £160m upgrade of the city's busiest road was finally given the go-ahead.
Funding approval for the long-awaited improvement scheme in Castle Street could see work start by late 2015.
Today, business leaders and politicians welcomed the move.
Carolyn Burgess, a member of the City Leadership Board and director of the Hull and Humber World Trade Centre, said: "Castle Street has been an issue for as long as I have been working in Hull and this is what we have all been waiting for.
"It is no coincidence that the green light has come now because it fits in perfectly with the plans for the city over the next five to ten years and reflects the collective aspiration for economic success tied to our burgeoning offshore renewables sector.
"The short-term pain of the work will be negligible compared with the long-term benefits that will come from increased connectivity by road, and the Marina being reunited with the rest of the city centre. It is fantastic news."
Fellow City Leadership Board member Tom Martin, who is joint managing director of Hull-based safety equipment firm Arco, said: "When the main work starts in Castle Street, it's going to be noisy, dusty and inconvenient and there is going to be a lot of chuntering about it.
"However, as a city, we have to acknowledge it as a temporary inconvenience and find ways of putting up with it."
Expected to take at least 18 months to construct, the upgrade will see a stretch of the A63, between Myton Bridge and the Daltry Street flyover, being lowered to a depth of 23ft.
A new road connecting Ferensway to Commercial Road will be constructed over the lowered section and the eastbound carriageway between Princes Dock Street and Market Place will be extended to three lanes.
All existing traffic lights and pedestrian crossings on the route will also be removed and replaced with footbridges.
Hull West and Hessle MP Alan Johnson confirmed proposals for a major land bridge for pedestrians linking the city centre to the Marina had yet to be agreed.
But he added: "I am optimistic it will happen.
"When I asked a question about the land bridge option in the Commons yesterday, the Cities Minister Greg Clark was nodding his head enthusiastically because he is aware of the issue around reuniting the city centre with the waterfront, having visited Hull before.
"It's probably going to be funded from a different pot, perhaps with money from the Regional Growth Fund, but it will be worth it."
Mr Johnson said the Government's commitment to funding the wider upgrade kept the scheme on track.
"This gives us more certainty that everything is on schedule," he said.
"The big challenge lies ahead in terms of dealing with all the disruption that's going to come our way but am I sure Hull can rise to it."
The consultation period runs until August 15 with a series of public exhibitions being planned.
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