A19 to reopen near Selby earlier than planned
The road has been closed since February 2020, after it was damaged by flooding.
The A19 is set to reopen earlier than planned near Selby, after being closed in February 2020 due to flood damage.
The stretch of road at Chapen Haddlesey is now due to open on 21 June.
During Storm Dennis, the River Aire burst its banks.
The road is built up at that stretch as it crosses a flood plain, but winds pushed flood waters against the sides, causing erosion and cracks.
North Yorkshire County Councillor Don Mackenzie, Executive Member for Access, said: “We always said we would do everything we could to reopen this stretch of the A19 as soon as possible.
“Storms Christoph and Darcy earlier this year affected the construction schedule, and we responded in a way that meant not only was our contractor, Balfour Beatty, able to claw back the considerable lost time, they are now on schedule to enable us to reopen the road five days ahead of our planned completion date.
“As we entered calmer weather and longer daylight hours, we were confident in making additional investment to fund longer working days and weekend working. This put us in a strong position to achieve our target date or better it, as we now expect to do, subject to any further severe weather or unforeseen circumstances.”
Despite the size of the challenge and ongoing adverse weather, the County Council says its highways team inspected the site as quickly as possible and commissioned a design that would allow the contractor to begin reconstruction.
They say the most significant issue was that the scale of the damage was unknown. Investigation and design were delayed by very slow dissipation of water, the availability of specialist equipment and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, said: “I am delighted that the A19 and the causeway supporting it is approaching completion and that we now have a date for reopening the road.
"The A19 is one our busiest roads and the closure made life difficult for many residents and businesses. I would like to thank Balfour Beatty and North Yorkshire County Council for the big push to get the road open earlier than originally planned and to especially thank local residents for their patience while the road was being rebuilt.”