Kex Gill: Costs for A59 roadworks "going the wrong way" council leader admits
The leader of North Yorkshire Council has admitted costs for a major roadbuilding project are “going the wrong way” as the bill spiralled to over £82m.
The re-routing of the Kex Gill section of the A59 near Blubberhouses is one of the biggest projects the authority has commissioned after a series of landslips caused serial road closures.
But amid budget concerns for the wider council, Carl Les spoke of his frustration with the costs - and didn’t rule out spending more money “to get the job done.”
He told the Yorkshire Post: “The thing about council reserves is you can only use them once.
“You can’t use them for a sustainable budget. If you have a disaster - I’m not saying Kex Gill is a disaster, but the costs are going the wrong way - if we have to put more money in to get the job done, we can take them out of reserves because Kex Gill is a once-in-a-lifetime project.
“But you can’t just keep using reserves on budget settlements, it’s like that old Tesco phrase ‘once it’s gone it’s gone.’
“We’ve spent a lot of time building up our reserves to cope with one-off eventualities.”
Last month, councillors heard that an extra £11.7m was needed to create a three mile bypass.
Coun Keane Duncan, executive director for highways and transportation, said it was “extremely frustrating” that costs had once again risen.
The blame was placed on delays to the works and poor ground conditions.
Keane Duncan said: “Without the new bypass, there is a significant risk of further costly and disruptive closures, that could ultimately threaten the road’s long-term future.
“That’s why we are keen to ensure work continues at pace and the new road can open to the public as quickly as possible.
“This will require extra investment to cover additional costs relating to factors that could not have been foreseen and that are outside of the council’s control.”
He said that the council was scrutinising compensation requests from its contractor, John Sisk and Son, who have the right to ask for additional payment for unexpected changes.
The additional funding brought the total bill up to some £82.5m. The Department for Transport (DfT) has funded £56m of the road project, and North Yorkshire Council has said some of the spiralling costs are due to late funding from the DfT.
It has cost £6m to keep the road open since 2000, with it closing 15 times in the past 25 years due to landslips.
The works encompass new bridleways and footpaths, four kilometres of natural stone walls, two balancing ponds, and an extensive environmental scheme to enrich local habitats in this national landscape, including planting 12,000 trees and installing several bird and barn owl boxes.
A total of 12 new culverts are also being installed to ensure water flows under the new road safely. These include mammal shelves and ledges to allow animals such as badgers, otters and other wildlife to pass through or nest.
It comes as Coun Les said he will meet with Government ministers this week ahead of the Spending Review to make the case for improving budget outlooks for local authorities.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce her plans later this month.