A section of Dishforth Road on Sharow Lane, near the traffic calming island, is closed this morning following a burst water main.
Motorists travelling to and from Ripon and up to the A1, are having to use alternative routes along Berrygate Lane and New Road at Sharow and through Copt Hewick to avoid the blockage while workmen carry out repair work.
A villager told the Stray Ferret:
“The work has been going on since earlier this morning and there is a hole four-feet deep, where the road has collapsed and the pipe burst.
“The collapsed section of road is directly opposite the traffic calming island near the Sharow Village Sports Ground.”
Contractors from Morrison Water Services, working on behalf of Yorkshire Water, are dealing with the burst and the collapse.
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Alert resident averts Ripon travel chaos again
North Yorkshire County Council has performed another u-turn to avoid travel problems for people going for vaccinations in Ripon.
For the second time in seven weeks, the council’s highways department has had to hit the brakes on plans to close a bridge on a key diversion route.
The bridge over the River Ure on Boroughbridge Road was due to close for inspection all day tomorrow.
But alert resident Paul Stockburn pointed out that such a move would have caused problems because Boroughbridge Road is already serving as a diversion for a section of the nearby Dishforth Road that is closed for road works.
Had the closure gone ahead, it would have created difficulties for people driving along Boroughbridge Road in and out of Ripon.
The bridge, which is half a mile from Ripon racecourse vaccination centre, was first due to close for inspection on 19 January.
But six days earlier part of Dishforth Road closed for eight weeks for work by Yorkshire Water. It remains closed.
Conflicting closure signs on the Dishforth and Boroughbridge roads. But the bridge over the River Ure will be open tomorrow
When Mr Stockburn pointed this out, the highways department said it would re-schedule the bridge closure when Yorkshire Water’s pipe renewal work was complete.
So Mr Stockburn, who lives in Copt Hewick, was surprised to see road closure signs appear again this week. He told the Stray Ferret:
“I couldn’t believe my eyes because I know that the Dishforth Road is still going to be closed tomorrow.
“The county council appear incapable of working out that eight weeks from 13 January gives a finish date of 10 March.
“Unbelievably, they were about to make exactly the same mistake.
“You wonder, did they ask Yorkshire Water first, before deciding they were going to close the bridge on 5 March?”
After receiving a call from Mr Stockburn, the Stray Ferret contacted NYCC to let it know the Dishforth Road closure was ongoing.
Melisa Burnham, highways area manager at the council, apologised and said:
“Yorkshire Water has been undertaking an eight-week programme of works on Dishforth Road therefore our contractors scheduled the one-day bridge inspection for this Friday when the work was due to be complete.
“Unfortunately Yorkshire Water need to extend their works until March 14 so we are in the process of rearranging the bridge inspection and have removed the advance notice signs.”
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Prior to the start of its work, Yorkshire Water sent a letter to all households in Copt Hewick. It said:
“We understand that these works will be inconvenient, which is why we’ve liaised closely with North Yorkshire County Council highways department regarding every aspect of this essential scheme.’”
The importance of the Boroughbridge Road diversion route, increased on February 2 when the covid vaccination centre opened at Ripon racecourse.