A bridge linking the east and west of Richmondshire has reopened – but the completion of much-delayed junction work in Catterick Garrison has been delayed by a further week.
Fort Bridge reopened last night. The bridge links Catterick Garrison with Catterick Racecourse and Brompton-on-Swale and Catterick Village.
The bridge was knocked down as part of the improvement work to the A1 which will see the road widened to motorway standard between Leeming and Barton.
This story continues after the adverts:
A new junction has been created outside the racecourse, meaning traffic coming from Catterick Village gives way to motorists travelling between the bridge and Brompton-on-Swale.
Catterick Bridge county councillor Carl Les welcomed news of the reopening.
“It’s been a long time in coming but we appreciate the road builders had extensive Roman remains to contend with, and then serious engineering problems with water.
“The wait will be worth it though once we get an effective new road system for through traffic on the new A1 and local traffic going east and west.”
However, while the For Bridge has reopened, the reopening of the White Shops junction to two-way traffic has been delayed a further week.
The revised completion date was November 24, however this has been put back to November 30.
The work was scheduled to take 12 weeks but the jobs is scheduled to be completed almost a year after it was due to be finished.
Resurfacing of the footways and carriageway was due to begin yesterday and will take the week to complete on the main road through the works.
North Yorkshire County Council says the main road will then be re-opened to two-way traffic.
This includes the bus stop and parking bays with a temporary pedestrian crossing in position.
A council spokesperson added: “Following the surfacing of the main road, the side roads will then be completed under the current closure.
“Following the surfacing of the carriageway, the road markings and the cable laying for the traffic signals will be completed.
“This will need to utilise temporary traffic management on the main road but will be for short time periods due to the type and location of the works.
“These works will also be completed on the side roads under the current closures.”
Officials say that footway and carriageway surfacing works are weather dependent.
