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Feb 2024

News

Council to spend £115,000 on Kex Gill repairs

Published: 19 Feb 2024, 06:15 GMT

by John Plummer

North Yorkshire Council is to spend £115,000 on repairing the A59 at Kex Gill — but has still given no indication when it will re-open.

The council closed the road at short notice on Friday, February 2 due to a cracked verge.

The A59 is the main route between Harrogate and Skipton and the closure has created an eight-mile detour that can increase journeys by 30 minutes.

Councillors will be asked this week to approve adding £115,000 to the annual highways capital programme that was approved in August to tackle the problem at Kex Gill.

A report to councillors says £100,000 will be spent on repairing the landslip and £15,000 on monitoring.

The report says:

"Although advanced planning is maximised through the implementation of a three-year rolling capital works programme, there are occasions when it is necessary, for sound operational reasons, to introduce new schemes into the forward programme.

"The recommendations will enable council officers, working alongside North Yorkshire Highways and partner organisations to develop designs and deliver the schemes listed."

The report, however, does not mention how long the work will take.

Neither did a council social media post on Friday, which denied the closure was due to work on its £68.9 million scheme to construct a three-mile section of road nearby in the landslip-prone area.

A previous social media post about the verge attracted several sceptical comments, including one by Harrogate man Alex Minett, who posted before and after pictures of the affected area and said:

"There is no way this is purely a result of water from the southern slope causing a slip. Removal of the vegetation and verge is the main cause."

The council's latest social media post said:

"The closure is a result of land instability due to the heavy rainfall experienced over a prolonged period this winter and is not related to the ongoing construction works."

It added the A59 at Kex Gill has "a long history of landslips and instability" and this crack had appeared between the carriageway and the northern verge.

The realignment work, it said, would prevent landslips.

The post said:

"We understand the impact the closure of the A59 at Kex Gill is having and we would like to assure road users that we are doing all that we can to carry out the repair as quickly and as safely as possible.

"Our investigations have shown that this repair has several engineering challenges that we need to overcome before we can reopen the road. We are currently conducting further detailed site investigations, including topological and geotechnical surveys, to determine the best course of action to get the road opened as quickly and safely as possible.

"We will provide a further update as soon as we have determined the exact detail of the repair scheme and the time it will take to complete. We will also ensure to provide regular updates as work progresses, and would once again like to apologise for the impact this closure is having."

The Kex Gill realignment is the most expensive capital project the council has undertaken.

It is being funded by a £56.1 million Department for Transport grant and £12.7 million from the council.

Motorist's frustration at lack of information on A59 at Kex Gill reopening

Council announces sudden closure of A59 at Kex Gill

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Council to spend £115,000 on Kex Gill repairs

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