A major road connecting Yorkshire towns will be closed for a ‘few weeks’ after a landslip on New Year’s Day.
The A59, a key route for commuters between Harrogate and Selby, will be closed at Kex Gill. The area has a ‘long history’ of landslips and was affected once again by the severe weather.
Work to clear and repair the site will commence on Monday, January 6, with the aim to remove all the debris as soon as possible. Diversions have been put in place via the A658, A660 and A65.
Councillor Keane Duncan, North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, said: “The A59 at Kex Gill has a long history of landslips and sadly we are starting 2025 with yet another. This latest closure is a result of severe weather and significant rainfall in the early hours of Wednesday, January 1.
“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.
“Road users are being advised to follow the diversion route in place, which is via the A658, A660 and A65.
“We understand the closure will cause delays to journeys and I would like to reiterate that we are doing all that we can to complete the repair as quickly and as safely as possible. We will endeavour to provide a further update next week.
“The closure is unrelated to the A59 realignment project. This is progressing well and is designed to prevent further unplanned and disruptive closures such as this.”
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