One of Ripon’s busiest thoroughfares will be closed daily between 7am and 5pm for six days from Friday, to enable North Yorkshire County Council to carry out repairs and resurfacing works.
Minster Road, which runs past Ripon Cathedral, along with St Mary’s Gate, are part of an inner-city route that many road users take if travelling to Cathedral Primary School, Aldi, Marks & Spencer food store, and homes on Residence Lane and those accessed off Priest Lane.
Signs, including ones for a diversion route that takes in Allhallowgate, Stonebridgegate, Magdalen’s Road, Rotary Way and the Ripon bypass have been put in place by NYCC.
With the St Mary’s Gate and Minster Road in their present condition, some motorists have been making their own diversionary route to avoid the potholes.
Stewart Readman, used a steel tape measure to emphasise the size of potholes on St Mary’s Gate.
Among them is Ripon resident Stewart Readman, who contacted the Stray Ferret in April to express concern about the state of the city’s roads.
At that time, he said:
“St Mary’s Gate and Minster Road are particularly hazardous and both my daughter and I had to have springs replaced on our cars because of damage caused by the potholes.
“Since then, it’s a route that we have avoided.”
St Mary’s Gate is currently a patchwork of temporarily filled-in potholes.
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With the road repairs and resurfacing due to start in four days, Mr Readman said this morning:
“I will be keeping a close eye on this work, but there are still many other roads in Ripon that also need to be attended to.”
The repair and resurfacing works will be carried out from the junction of Priest Lane with Allhallowgate and St Mary’s Gate and on Minster Road.
A resident, who lives on St Mary’s Gate, added:
“We’ve waited a long time for this pothole problem to be sorted out and I just hope that they make a good job of resurfacing the road
“Hopefully it will be up to the same standard as the resurfacing work on Cathedral Car Park, where the contractors did a great job.”
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Surface dressing on local roads begins under new contractor
A new surface dressing programme has begun on roads in North Yorkshire this month.
North Yorkshire County Council has hired a new contractor to carry out this year’s work, which the local authority said can extend the life of a road surface by up to 10 years.
The 2022 programme, which will cover about 200 miles, will be the first delivered by NY Highways, the roads maintenance company created by the county council last year.
NY Highways has recruited Birmingham road construction firm Kiely Bros as its contractor.
Ross Bullerwell, managing director of NY Highways, said:
“Over the past four months we have worked with Kiely Bros to prepare them for the contract, to make sure they understand what we demand in terms of finish and quality.
“The company has already been providing white lining services for us and we have received good local feedback about their work.”
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A press release issued by the council today described surface dressing as “a quick, efficient and cost-effective way of maintaining skid-resistant and waterproof road surfaces”.
The process involves spraying the surface with bitumen, then spreading stone chippings on top and rolling these into the bitumen. Once the bitumen has set, the road is swept to remove any loose chippings.
Weather warning
Barrie Mason, assistant director highways and transportation at the county council, said:
“We know the value of surface dressing from experience. It is vital in maintaining the condition of our roads network. That’s why it is a key component of our annual roads maintenance programme.
“Year after year, through the programme we enhance the quality of sections of our road network. This is crucial in ensuring that businesses, residents and visitors can travel with confidence.”
Signs should go up at each location before work starts to alert residents and drivers.
Mr Mason warned the programme can be affected by weather, adding:
“This can makes communicating exact dates challenging, so we urge residents to check the advance site signage regularly. The contractor will amend this to highlight any change in the schedule.
“After a stretch of road has been treated, it is important for drivers to heed the temporary speed limit put in place while the new surface stabilises to prevent damage to their own vehicle and those of other road users.”
For more information about surface dressing, click here.
Whole of Harrogate’s Bogs Lane now to be resurfacedNorth Yorkshire County Council has agreed to resurface the whole of Bogs Lane.
Previously, the council said it would only lay fresh tarmac on the stretch of road from the Forest Lane junction of Knaresborough Road to Henshaw’s College. Work began last week.
The road, just off the main A59 Knaresborough Road, is in a busy residential area that has been affected by numerous new housing schemes.
However, following requests from resident Malcolm Binks and Starbeck Liberal Democrat councillor Philip Broadbank, the county council has now agreed to resurface the whole stretch of road.
Cllr Broadbank said that this will now include the section from Henshaw’s College to the low bridge that connects Bogs Lane to Kingsley Road.
He said:
“The road’s been in a very poor condition for a long time. It beggared belief the county council didn’t decide to do it until now.”
The councillor said the resurfacing work should be completed by the end of this week.
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Swift action to tackle Sharow’s pothole plight
Village campaigner James Thornborough, who highlighted the “shocking state” of roads in Sharow, has had a swift response from North Yorkshire County Council.
Mr Thornborough contacted council chief executive Richard Flinton on January 30 to raise concerns about the uneven and dangerous road surfaces in the village, near Ripon.
He said fear of damage to wheels and tyres was preventing motorists from ‘going green’ by swapping sturdy SUVs for smaller vehicles with less environmental impact.
Mr Flinton promised the condition of the roads would be investigated by the council’s highways team and within a matter of days, council workmen identified 38 potholes and a temporary tarmac fix was applied.
Before … Some of the 38 potholes in Sharow and after … with temporary tarmac patches in place (pictured below)
Following a site visit by members of the council highways team, Nigel Smith, the county’s head of highway operations, sent Mr Thornborough a detailed email. It said:
“Sharow Lane and New Road are at a stage where preventative maintenance is not an option and a more substantial maintenance scheme will be considered for inclusion in our Forward Capital Programme, which presently means that the earliest a planned maintenance scheme could be delivered would be during the 2023/24 financial year.
“By way of further information, it is anticipated that a full ‘plane out and resurface’ scheme is required at this location, which will require funding of up to £200,000.
“In the meantime we will continue to do the annual safety inspections and reactive inspections to keep these carriageways in as safe a condition as possible and keep the matter under regular review.
“To that end I have asked the local area team to keep you apprised of matters with a further update at the end of March 2022 when we are reviewing our delivery programme for 2022/23.”
Mr Thornborough told the Stray Ferret:
“It was refreshing to receive such rapid and positive responses from senior county council officers and I just hope for the sake of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, that we will eventually see a more permanent fix for our patched-up roads.”
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Ripon car park could be resurfaced by Friday — and has bigger bays
Ripon contractors are on target to complete the resurfacing of the city’s cathedral car park a week ahead of schedule.
The work by A E Duffield & Sons as part of a £106,000 contract is due for completion on February 11, but progress suggests it could be finished by this Friday.
In an additional boost to motorists, a city council request for bays to be increased in size, to make parking easier, has been taken on-board.
A contractor told the Stray Ferret:
“The bays are now a minimum of 2.4 metres wide, compared with the previous ones that were 2.2 metres.”
The parking bays have been widened to 2.4 metres
To accommodate the enlargement of the spaces, it is estimated that a dozen of the car park’s 193 bays will be lost.
Ripon City and Harrogate district independent councillor Pauline McHardy, who led the call for the bays to be increased in size, welcomed the progress made this week.
She said:
“I’m pleased with the positive response from Harrogate Borough Council to our request and thank them for that.
“I’m also delighted that the resurfacing work has gone smoothly and with it likely to be completed early, that will mean a week’s less disruption for people coming into the city who need somewhere to park.”
A E Duffield & Sons has recently been awarded another contract by Harrogate Borough Council to resurface the Fisher Street Car Park in Knaresborough, at a cost of £30,000.
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A company has been awarded a £106,000 contract to resurface Ripon’s biggest car park.
The Cathedral car park, on Victoria Grove, has 193 bays and sits in the view of the city’s cathedral.
A.E. Duffield & Sons Ltd, which is based in Ripon, will take on the work as part of a Harrogate Borough Council contract valued at £106,512.47.
The council said in its contract notice that the site has become worn and hazardous to members of the public.
It said:
“Over the years the current surface of the car park has become pot-holed, with large areas of loose tarmac resulting in trip hazards to members of the public, and claims for vehicle damage.”
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The contract is for a complete resurfacing of the car park, and to increase the number of parking spaces to 206, along with 10 disabled bays.
The council will also require the contractors to undertake trunking and ductwork in preparation for the installation of electric vehicle charging points.
A separate contract will be procured to install the charging points.
The work is due to start on January 17 and end on February 11, according to the company.
There have been calls by Ripon city councillors for the bays in the car park to be made wider.
Overnight road closures on A1(M) near HarrogateOvernight road closures are set to take place at junction 46 of the A1(M), which connects traffic to Kirk Deighton in the Harrogate district.
North Yorkshire County Council will resurface the roundabout above the A1(M) at junction 46. The junction gives access to Wetherby and surrounding villages.
Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at the council, said:
“This is a major access point for many people, from residents to visitors arriving in the area to HGV drivers, who use the lorry park within the service facilities.
“This volume of traffic has taken its toll on the carriageway and we appreciate that the quality of the surface at this key location has been a cause of concern locally.
“Our highways officers have always worked to maintain the safety of the carriageway, but I am pleased that funding now enables us to fully resurface the roundabout.”
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Work will be carried out in two phases, from October 4 to 8 for surveys and drainage investigations, then from October 16 to 24 for resurfacing.
Overnight closures of the junction, including the slip roads from the A1(M), will occur between 8pm and 6am during those dates. A diversion will be in place.
Andy Paraskos, member for Ainsty division at the council, said:
Leeds Road reopens fully after four weeks of resurfacing“This is a major junction, it’s particularly important to any villagers wanting to travel towards York. The surface is poor, so I am delighted that it is now going to be resurfaced.”
Leeds Road in Harrogate has reopened fully after four weeks of evening closures for resurfacing.
North Yorkshire County Council‘s highways team worked on the stretch of road between Beech Avenue in Harrogate and Princess Royal Way in Pannal.
It will come as a relief to drivers who have been forced to use an eight-mile diversion between 6.30pm and 11.30pm since March 29.
This is the third of three phases of resurfacing in Harrogate. Works in The Old Barber area in Bilton and Franklin Road are already complete.
The highways team used 2,500 tonnes of material and cleaned out 105 gullies. As they finished the work today, it was completed on time.
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Cllr Don Mackenzie, executive member for access at North Yorkshire County Council, said:
“The extensive resurfacing scheme on one of Harrogate’s busiest roads is a real success story for our dedicated highways teams.
“In spite of the constraints on working times, it has been completed on schedule with relatively minimal inconvenience.
“It is a great demonstration of working well in collaboration to achieve the same goal. The standard of the road is much improved and is now fit for future traffic demands.
Brian L Dunsby OBE, a local resident and former chief executive of the town’s Chamber of Trade and Commerce, said:
“The highways teams have done a brilliant job in resurfacing to such a high standard and were well-coordinated to get it finished on time.
“The project was very well executed as by carrying out the work overnight it caused little disruption.
“This is a major route in Harrogate so it’s great to see such improvements are a priority for the county council.”