Drivers face 1,250 stops a year at damaged bridge

Road traffic will be stopped at a key river bridge - damaged when a boat hit it - every time a ship needs to pass underneath until "urgent" repairs are complete.

A North Yorkshire Council report said the interim safety measures at Selby Toll Bridge could mean 1,250 stoppages each year, causing "congestion, delays and reduced network reliability for local traffic".

The council has bid to the government for £89.3m to replace the bridge and repair Selby bypass bridge, nearly triple the original estimate.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said decisions on applications to its Structure Fund, which was introduced to help councils repair and replace ageing bridges, would be made in the autumn.

The report, sent by the council to the DfT to support its bid, said the traffic stoppages could last up to 10 minutes each time, and were to "minimise risk" to road users if the toll bridge was hit by another boat.

It said: "The A19 Selby Toll Swing Bridge is approaching the end of its operational life and requires significant intervention to ensure its continued safe and reliable operation."

North Yorkshire Council's deputy leader, Mark Crane, said: "The size of this bid shows just how serious a state both these bridges are in."

Crane, a Conservative councillor who represents the Brayton and Barlow division, said the traffic stoppage decision had been taken for safety reasons.

He added: "However, it will clearly cause traffic disruption in Selby town centre, so we must hope the money is forthcoming from the government to rebuild the toll bridge.

"It really is urgent that we work on one of the bridges as soon as possible and the other as soon as possible thereafter. If the work isn't done, then Selby is clearly in a difficult position.

"I don't think the council would allow it to become cut off, but the alternative way to York, using the A1M, is just too long, so we must make sure both bridges are repaired, particularly the A63 bridge."

The A63 bypass bridge, which crosses the River Ouse on the outskirts of Selby, is currently unable to swing open for boats because of "deterioration" of the hydraulic, electrical and control systems, a condition report written in 2025 said.

"Critical components, particularly the hydraulic power units, are in very poor condition with significant corrosion, contamination and system failures.

"The report concludes that replacement of these elements is required to restore operation," Philip Richardson, the council's bridges manager, wrote.

An indefinite 20mph speed limit is in place at the bypass bridge.

Steve Shaw-Wright, who leads the council's Labour group and represents Selby West, said a council report last July put the cost of replacing the toll bridge and repairing the bypass bridge at £30m.

The estimated cost going up to £92m, made up of the £89m requested from government plus £3m locally raised "match funding", was "quite worrying," he said.

"That is quite an inflation rate. I'm shocked and surprised, but it that's what's needed, that's what's needed.

"There's no immediate need for the work but obviously it needs to be done as soon as possible. In the report - and a verbal report - we heard that if the old toll bridge is hit or damaged by a ship it could close the bridge," Shaw-Wright added.

The toll bridge was rebuilt in 1969 by the privately owned Selby Bridge Company, before being passed to the then North Yorkshire County Council in 1991 to maintain and operate.

The bypass bridge was built in 2004 by the Highways Agency.

Responsibility for its operation and maintenance passed to North Yorkshire County Council in 2007 as part of the "de-trunking" of the A63.

The Department for Transport has been contacted for comment.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.