Councillors frustrated by delay of plans to divert unstable road

COUNCILLORS HAVE spoken of their frustration over delays to a scheme to prevent further land slips on a major route across the North of England.

Fourteen months of work to create a diversion of the land-slip prone section of the A59 at Kex Gill, between Skipton and Harrogate, had been scheduled to start in the spring, but despite having initially had positive feedback from the Department for Transport, North Yorkshire County Council said it is still awaiting a decision over if the £40m scheme will receive government funding.

The preferred route for the realignment was agreed by the council in July 2018, following a public consultation on various proposals, and detailed plans were sent to the Government in October. However, councillors say they want to see construction of the three-mile diversion started as soon as possible as it is feared the unstable section of the road could slip again at any time, creating lengthy and time-consuming diversions.

Among those concerned, long-serving councillor Caroline Patmore has questioned how long the authority should be expected to wait for a decision. She said: “Obviously the local MP will understand this, but do the Government understand this? In the end this has really got to happen. We can’t just go on hoping. We need to get them to put their mark on the paper.”

The authority’s corporate director David Bowe said following a business case and technical appraisal being submitted to the Department for Transport, the council, Transport for the North and North Yorkshire MPs had pressed the Government for a decision.

He said the Government had been told of the A59’s importance for regional connectivity.

“We have had this argument in the past about whether we are trying to create another M62,” he said. “We are not. That’s illogical. However, it is a capacity and access issue to the north of Leeds and Bradford. It is an east-west connectivity issue. There are huge problems for the communities in Skipton and Harrogate, but more so in Ilkley and Otley, because when the A59 fails those communities come to a standstill.”

Mr Bowe said Ripon MP Julian Smith had received “a very bland reply” to his lobbying from Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps, simply stating officers were reviewing the submission.