A59 Kex Gill ‘instability issue’ cost council £1.4 million
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Last updated Aug 13, 2021
The A59 at Kex Gill, which is to be realigned after historic problems with landslips.
The A59 at Kex Gill, which is to be realigned after historic problems with landslips.

An instability problem on the A59 at Kex Gill has cost North Yorkshire County Council £1.42 million, according to a report published by the authority.

Multiple incidents including landslides over the last 10 years has seen authority officials intervene to fix the road.

According to recently published county council documents, the cost to taxpayers for the road has been “increasing over the last ten-year period”.

But an instability issue in May 2018 caused road closures for several months, which council officials say led to a “complex repair scheme” being carried out.

Barrie Mason, assistant director highways and transportation at the authority, said:

“The £1.42 million cost and the ‘latest instability issue’ relates to the complex repair scheme that we implemented in 2018 when we closed the road on 30 May that year, after movement was detected in the carriageway.

“We had to carry out a two-phase repair involving rock anchors, which saw the road closed until 8 July 2018 and then operate under temporary signals until the end of March 2019 followed by a week-long closure in May 2019 for the final surfacing to be completed.”

Meanwhile, between October 2000 and May 2019, five landslides were recorded at the site and the retaining wall failed four times.

In January 2016, the road was closed for eight weeks and traffic diverted through Ilkley and Otley after heavy rain caused a landslide.


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The report, which was published to support the council’s compulsory purchase orders for land at Kex Gill as part of a £60 million diversion project, said:

“There is a long history of landslips on the land above the A59 at Kex Gill. These landslips deposit material onto the road leading to closures of the A59. 

“The financial cost of intervention for the authority and the disruption to users of the route has been increasing over the last ten-year period and the risks of earthwork failures have slowly been shifting from a slope stabilisation risk to a global stability risk of the carriageway itself.”

It comes as the county council is pressing ahead with a £60 million project to create a diversion west of Blubberhouses at Kex Gill.

The project would take a year to complete and could start in autumn this year.

Authority officials are currently in the process of procuring a contractor to start work on the project.

However, this could be delayed by 15 months if a public inquiry is called.

Such as hearing could be held if an objection is lodged to the council’s compulsory purchase orders

Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive county councillor for access, told a full council meeting last month:

“The compulsory purchase and side roads orders have been published with a formal consultation period until the end of August.

“The project programme without a public inquiry indicates that construction could start this autumn. On the other hand, if a public inquiry is required, the start of works could be delayed by up to 15 months.”