Inside Britain's wonkiest road and the huge £5m plans to try and fix it
The Wiltshire road was severely damaged during Storm Eunice in 2022 and has become a breeding ground for BMX riders.
Britain's wonkiest road could soon return to its former glory as work to fix it has finally started nearly two years after it was partially turned into a corkscrew.
A 330-foot stretch of the B4069 in Lyneham, Wiltshire was severely damaged during Storm Eunice, as a landslide caused it to slip 82 feet downhill. While cars have struggled to go through, the road has slowly become a Mecca to skateboarders and BMX riders using its wonky features to practice.
But Wiltshire Council hopes to bring full traffic back by the spring of 2025 after agreeing on an eye-watering £5 million budget to fix the road.
Councillor Nick Holder insisted the work would be completed on time and vowed contractors would be "working six days a week" if needed.
Mr Holder explained attempts to restore the road had been delayed as workers had to wait for the land to stop moving. Since Storm Eunice caused the damage, parts of the wonky section slipped further downhill while others rose by as much as 19 feet.
The road used to serve an estimated 5,500 daily before the storm and while only a small section was rendered unusable, motorists have faced miles of diversions and one-way systems.
Cllr Allison Bucknell said the landslip was a “catastrophic event that has affected the lives of so many people. Residents have been waiting long enough.”
Highways teams said the road would also be closely monitored over the next few years to ensure any other problems are quickly identified and said it should last around 60 years.
A spokesperson for the council said: "Work on site is due to begin in summer 2024 and the council expects the road to reopen in spring 2025.
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"Once the B4069 has reopened, the council will be undertaking repairs to the local road network, which has been subject to increased traffic during the road's closure."
However, some residents voiced their opposition to the project and suggested councillors should work on finding more stable ground to build an alternative road.
Speaking to The Telegraph, locals Felicity and Tim Reynolds said: "Instead of throwing more money after bad, the council should look for alternative routes on more stable ground.
"While these repairs may stabilise the road, they will do nothing to prevent, and may even exacerbate, movement in the rest of the road."
Businesses have welcomed news of the works after reporting a considerable drop in trade since the B4069 was forced to shut down.
The local pub, The Cross Keys in Bradenstoke, has also reportedly lost significant sums in the two years the road was turned into an accidental skatepark.
Landlord Simon Manners said: "Nothing ever seems to get done, we hear they are planning all the time, but this has impacted us by around £40,000 per year with the loss of trade. We're just surviving."
