Town 'cut off for a year' after flooding caused bridge collapse
A TOWN split in two when its 18th-century bridge partly collapsed in the Christmas floods will have to wait a year for it to be rebuilt, it emerged yesterday.
The bridge will not be repaired for a year
Large parts of the stone crossing at Tadcaster, North Yorks, fell into the River Wharfe last Tuesday.
Repairs will cost £3million and residents face a 16-mile detour to get from one side of the town to the other until it is rebuilt.
Environmental Minister Elizabeth Truss visits the bridge in Tadcaster
Bridge in Tadcaster collapses due to extreme floods
They say the proposed length of time for the bridge to be repaired makes a mockery of Government pledges to restore it quickly.
Pressure needs to be put on the county council to pull its finger out
North Yorkshire Ukip county councillor David Simister said: “Environment Minister Liz Truss said – and to quote her – fixing this bridge was a ‘national priority’, when quite clearly it isn’t. The residents of Tadcaster will be furious that it is going to take up to 12 months to repair the damage.
“Pressure needs to be put on the county council to pull its finger out.”
North Yorkshire County Council said building a temporary road bridge was “not an option, given the span required and the constraints of the location”.
Local authorities are considering creating a temporary foot bridge
The collapse of the bridge splits the town in two
It said that it was considering creating a temporary footbridge using pontoons. But the Conservative-run authority added that reconstructing “a listed bridge of this nature, with its series of masonry arches, is a highly complex and skilled operation”.
Other bridges in Yorkshire also suffered serious damage, including Elland Bridge in Calderdale and a 180-year-old span in Copley, Halifax.