Historic road bridge to reopen after seven months' disruption

AN historic road bridge linking the East Riding with North Yorkshire is set to fully reopen in 10 days after more than seven months of disruption to residents and local businesses.

But it has not yet been decided whether weight and width restrictions to limit further damage will be imposed.

The listed bridge over the River Derwent at Sutton-on-Derwent was severely damaged when it was hit by a lorry on January 8.

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It reopened with width restrictions after temporary repairs on February 7 and closed again on June 14.

East Riding Council said it expected to complete more extensive structural and resurfacing work in time for the bridge to be reopened on Monday, July 26.

The closure decimated the takings of some local businesses and villagers signed a petition calling for a bridge weight limit to prevent further damage.

But North Yorkshire Police, the Road Haulage Association, York City Council, North Yorkshire County Council and 13 parish councils are among opponents of a permanent restriction, some claiming the measure would simply divert heavy goods vehicles through other villages.

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East Riding Council's environment and transport overview and scrutiny committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss what measures, if any, will be taken to reduce traffic.

A report to the committee recommends a temporary 7.5-tonne weight limit is introduced, subject to the agreement of York City Council, while the matter is investigated further.

It has emerged that the driver who hit the bridge in January did not report it, leading to criticism of some hauliers.

In a letter to East Riding Council, East Yorkshire MP Greg Knight said the bridge was in danger of being hit again because of the "apparent incompetence" of some drivers.

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He wrote: "There is no guarantee that further damage will not be caused to this bridge when it is finally open again due to the apparent incompetence of some of the drivers of heavy goods vehicles, who seek to drive over the bridge vehicles which are clearly too wide...

"I hope the council will agree that further measures do need to be taken to protect Elvington Bridge from future damage."

He said the local community would give "widespread support" to width restrictions, but said he expected the council would prefer a more pleasing solution than the concrete blocks that had been in place.

The report concludes: "It would be unreasonable to introduce an environmental weight restriction to protect one community in the knowledge that this would result in problems for a community elsewhere.

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"..The Derwent River Bridge suffered extensive damage from the recent vehicle impact and a preliminary structural assessment has shown that should a weight limit be applied it would help prevent further structural deterioration.

"It is therefore proposed to introduce a temporary 7.5 tonne weight limit, with appropriate exemptions, on the bridge to commence as the temporary width restriction is removed."

However, York Council warned that some restrictions would probably be ignored as police did not have the resources to enforce them.

In a letter to their East Riding colleagues, York Council said: "..because North Yorkshire Police don't support the introduction of access restrictions due to the extensive staffing needed to enable enforcement, City of York Council has an established policy of not introducing new access only-type restrictions".