Road repairs have obviously always been a cause for concern as in 1640 the Hambleton Causeway was reported to be in such a poor condition that two Justices were tasked with reviewing the defects, costing the repairs and making provision to raise the funds to repair it. The Justices were named Edward Stanhope and Gervase Hammond. The Causeway was often used by packhorses carrying goods from industrial towns to Selby Docks.
One hundred years later the 1740 Turnpike Act required the road from Selby to Leeds to be repaired and enlarged. There was a toll bar in Hambleton which some sources say was opposite the Red Lion, others at the west end of Hambleton near Bar Farm and hence the name Bar Lane. Examples of the charges set in 1740 for the Selby Leeds Turnpike were: Horses 1d (less than ½ pence in 2017) Carts 8d (about 4 pence in 2017) Coach (drawn by 1 horse) 6d (about 2 ½ pence in 2017) Wagon (drawn by less than 4 horses or oxen)1/- (5 pence in 2017) 20 Sheep 5d (less than ½ pence in 2017) 20 Cattle 10d (about 2 pence in 2017) 20 Pigs 5d (about ½ pence today). The original act underwent several amendments including changes in tolls in 1750, 1786, 1820 and 1841. The cottage, near Bar Lane, used by the Toll Keeper was demolished around the middle of the last century. The Keeper in 1851 was a Mr. Curtis.
The A63 was a major link between Leeds and Kingstone–upon-Hull, these major roads were classed as Trunk Roads following the The Trunk Road Act 1936 and the section between East Ledsham - Hambleton – Selby was listed in the First Schedule. This meant that the roads became the responsibility of the Ministry of Transport. In 1936 the Ministry of Transport announced a plan to by-pass the village. The route was to go around the south side of the village, cutting through farm land between the houses on Gateforth Lane and the Cemetery, passing through the long gardens of the original houses on Cherwell Croft and eventually joining the A63 after Monk Fryston. However, over the years the anticipation and excitement faded and all hopes of a bye-pass were finally lost when in 2015 the A63 was detrunked as it was no longer considered the main east west route.