Barnsley road which shut last year due to land slip due to reopen by early summer

Thurgoland Bank between Rag Lane and Sheffield Road was devastated by a landslip in January 2021, and repairs are set to begin ‘shortly’.

Barnsley Council’s spokesperson for highways and transport says the landslip made the road ‘unsafe’, and the council has worked hard to prevent the adjacent land from slipping any further.

Works to fix the road, including a reinforced concrete wall next to the road, are set for completion by early summer, at a cost of £497,000.

Councillor Robert Barnard, Conservative representative on BMBC for Penistone East, said the road closure has diverted traffic towards the Four Lane Ends Junction, which he says is an ‘accident blackspot’.

“Traffic has had to be diverted along the A629 to the Fours Crossroads,” Coun Barnard told the local democracy reporting service.

“This is a crossroads where there have been many serious accidents over the years.

“It has increased the volume of traffic to an accident blackspot.”

Coun Barnard added that the closure of the bank has been a ‘cause of concern’ for residents, and both Thurgoland and Oxpring Parish Councils, and the news that he road it to re-open is ‘very welcome’.

“It’s taken a long time, because the problem isn’t a simple one, unfortunately.

“It’s not just a case of filling in a few holes and putting some Tarmac on – the whole foundation of the road has slipped away underneath the carriageway.

“It’s going to require concrete and a kind of pile driving to create a new foundation, then rebuild the carriageway.”

Councillor Chris Lamb, cabinet spokesperson for environment and transport, said: “In January 2021, we closed the road at Thurgoland Bank as a landslip made the road unsafe.

“Since then, we’ve worked hard to find a long-term solution to stop the adjacent land next to the road from slipping further. We want to apologise to residents and businesses that have been unable to use the road during this time.

“This is a challenging site because of the angle of the land, and overhead power cables that supply local communities are immediately above it. However, we’re confident we’ve designed a solution.

“We’re building a deep, reinforced concrete wall next to the road using concrete cylindric piles.

“We’re also reconstructing the existing road, which will require work to excavate two meters below the current road surface. Work will start shortly, and we plan to have it complete and reopened by early summer.”