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04
Jan
What is going on with the closure of the A59 at Kex Gill?
The new year had barely begun when the A59 at Kex Gill suffered another landslip.
The road closed on January 1 and now faces yet another extended closure and a potential hefty repair bill.
Eleven months ago, the A59 at Kex Gill was beset by a landslip which closed the road for five months and cost £3 million to repair.
The extended repairs led to questions to North Yorkshire Council, about the length of the road closure, loss of income to local traders and a lack of communication with residents.
Could the council face the same questions this time?
Concern over communication
The A59, which links Harrogate and Skipton, is one of England’s main east-west link roads, like the A66 further north.
The latest landslip, which the council has blamed on “significant rain overnight”, is another in a long line of incidents.
Council officials have been keen to stress that the landslips — of which there have been 14 in the last 20 years — are precisely why it has embarked upon a £68.8 million realignment project.
Drone footage of Kex Gill.
However, for some, the concern over Kex Gill is not about the merits of building a new road.
Alistair Young, whose home in Blubberhouses overlooks the A59, has monitored developments closely. He claims communication about the project has been poor.
When the southern embankment at Kex Gill slipped and the road was closed on New Year’s Day, a diversion was put in place via the A658, A660 and A65.
But Mr Young told the Stray Ferret local residents were only told about the closure and diversion at the same time as the rest of North Yorkshire several hours later.
He said:
As usual, it is the local residents who are affected directly and immediately, but who have to wait for a communication alongside the rest of North Yorkshire. It really wouldn't be difficult for North Yorkshire Council to have a 'hotlist' of residents who need to hear straightaway.
We look down directly onto the A59 and traffic was going up and down the road until late afternoon on the 1st January when bollards and barriers were then put in place. Clearly this was not accompanied by diversion signs and traffic was chaotic up Hall Lane and across Thrushcross.
The last landslip to beset the A59 saw the road closed for five months between February and June.
At the time, the council faced similar questions over its communication — but also faced criticism over the economic hit to local traders, such as the Outside Inn at Menwith Hill.
Mr Young said engagement do far with local residents has been similar to that of the last landslip.
He said:
Again there has been no contact or engagement with local residents to inform or advise them, just like the last closure of the A59.
Council update
On Thursday, the council issued a statement on social media and through a newsletter to update residents in the wider Harrogate area over the landslip.
Cllr Keane Duncan, executive member for transport at North Yorkshire Council, said in the statement the closure was “not related to the A59 realignment project” and was a result of severe weather.
He added:
We have made an initial assessment and discovered we will need to conduct some repairs to the southern bank of the land adjacent to the road, where there is currently a large amount of loose material.
Given the predicted bad weather in the next couple of days, we believe this material is also at significant risk of falling onto the carriageway.
We plan on being on-site from Monday (January 6) to start to clear the material and stabilise the bank. This could take a few weeks however, if we can, we hope to have the road opened sooner depending on the weather.
Cllr Keane Duncan
In its statement, the council promised to provide a further update on the closure next week.
However, the pledge did not sit well with residents such as Mr Young. He said:
Why are repairs not starting until Monday, January 6, when the slippage occurred on December 31? And why will North Yorkshire Council "endeavour" to provide an update next week?
Surely they should be actively managing this closure and continuously providing updates on progress, not endeavouring to provide an update.
Kex Gill is once again threatening to prove a long-running sore for residents and the thousands of people who use the road.
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