The government has committed up to £56 million in funding for an overhaul of the Kex Gill section of the A59 between Harrogate and Skipton.
The proposed new road will divert traffic away from the landslip-prone part of the route and will see the creation of a diversion west of Blubberhouses at Kex Gill.
The project, which is yet to receive planning permission, would take a year to complete with the county council covering the remaining £4.95 million.
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The plan for the realignment of the A59 at Kex Gill as proposed by North Yorkshire County Council. Picture: NYCC.
The site has a long history of landslips, which have blighted travel on the road for years.
According to North Yorkshire County Council planning documents, between October 2000 and May 2019, five landslips were recorded at the site and the retaining wall failed four times.
North Yorkshire County Council’s planning and regular functions committee met earlier this month to consider the proposals, which received extensive support from the public and North Yorkshire county councillors.
However, no decision was made after Lewis Williams, representing mining firm Sibelco, requested the application is given final approval by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick.
Mr Jenrick is yet to respond to the request.
Mr Williams argued the valuable minerals in the area should be given more consideration.
Although the Blubberhouses quarry closed some years ago, he said there remained significant mineral deposits which were valuable to industry but had been overlooked in a plan that was “ham-fisted, rushed and ill-conceived”.
