A START date has been announced for permanent repairs to be carried out on the A59 at Kex Gill.

The work will begin on the section of road, which has a history of instability and landslips, on Monday, October 8 and is expected to last for eight weeks.

The A59 at Kex Gill was closed in late spring after a large crack appeared in the road surface and, though it reopened in July after initial repairs, it has been operating since on a single file basis managed by traffic lights.

As reported in last week’s Wharfedale & Aireborough Observer, that has led to knock-on problems in terms of through-traffic for local towns like Otley.

Otley councillors recently urged North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) to come up with a permanent repair programme fast, and to get it implemented ‘as soon as possible’.

Their wish now appears to have been granted with NYCC’s Executive Member for Highways, Councillor Don Mackenzie, confirming the dates for the works.

Cllr Mackenzie has also said that the road will remain open, operating under temporary traffic lights, for the first seven weeks of the scheme.

It will close, however, for the final, eighth week to allow the road - which connects Skipton and Harrogate - to be resurfaced and its drainage system to be rebuilt.

Councillor Colin Campbell (Lib Dem, Otley & Yeadon) has hailed the update and sent Cllr Mackenzie a note to say that he and his colleagues welcome the news.

Cllr Campbell is also warning, however, that Otley should brace itself for ‘major disruption’ from diverted traffic during the project’s final week.

NYCC ultimately hopes to solve the issue by bypassing the problematic section of the A59 at Kex Gill, west of Blubberhouses, altogether.

The authority is planning to realign the route to the other side of the valley as part of its strategic transport plan.

It is currently putting together a full business case, to secure the multi-million pound funding required, for submission to the Department for Transport.