Collapsing road could permanently shut

2 hours ago

Evie LakeNorth East and Cumbria

News image — The surface of the road to Hamsterley started collapsing in January 2023

BBC A road in very poor condition with half of it cracked off and sliding down the hill. on the left. There are trees on the left verge, most of which are without leaves. There is an orange and white traffic cone at the side of the road. — The surface of the road to Hamsterley started collapsing in January 2023

A road which has been closed for more than three years could be permanently shut, a council has said.

The C31 into Hamsterley, near Bishop Auckland, was fenced off after part of the surface collapsed into the River Wear in January 2023, leading to road diversions.

Durham County Council's cabinet will be asked to agree to the submission of an application to magistrates to formally close the road after the local authority said repairs were expected to exceed £10m.

It is proposed the current diversionary route is made permanent as there are "no guarantees" the road would not collapse further. The Reform cabinet will meet on 15 September.

The council said it had evaluated all available options for the road including geotechnical investigations to understand the cause of the slippage.

Designs were proposed to repair the carriageway and a budget of £1.7m was allocated, but as the proposals were being developed the embankment slippage accelerated.

Due to the proximity of the river and existing ground water, there was no guarantee the road would not move again in the future, the local authority said.

Cones and fallen orange barriers surround the section of road which is slipping into the River Wear on the left. Some of the white and orange cones are standing up but others have been knocked over. The verge on the left is covered in leafless trees and is on a slope. There is a patch of grass with more cones and barriers on the right. — The C31 has now been closed for more than three years

In March, local resident Andy Richardson said the use of diversion route was adding time and expense to local residents' journeys.

Councillor Tim McGuinness, cabinet member for rural, farming and transport said: "Sadly, the slippage of the embankment has escalated beyond what we had expected and repairs are no longer viable, especially given that there is no guarantee that further subsidence will not occur.

"It is not possible to reopen Crakehill Bank and guarantee that the public will be safe or that the road will not slip again."

Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.