Senior North Yorkshire councillors say they have no choice but to spend an extra £11.7m to “end the misery of Kex Gill once and for all”.
The investment agreed yesterday (Tuesday) by members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive committee takes the cost for the A59 Kex Gill realignment project to £82.5m.
The scheme was originally budgeted to cost £68.8m, with an extra £2m already approved by councillors.
Councillors were told however that the total cost of the scheme was likely to increase further, with councillors agreeing a further contingency fund to be used if necessary.
The work will create a four-kilometre bypass around a section of the east-west route near Blubberhouses, which has closed repeatedly over the years due to landslips.
Asking senior councillors to agree to the extra spending, Councillor Keane Duncan, executive member for highways and transportation, said:
“Of course it’s extremely frustrating that we’re now seeing extra costs.
“The costs primarily relate to the delayed commencement of works, as well as essential design changes and poor ground conditions that we encountered on site
“These costs could not have been foreseen. They are not the council’s fault. But it is the unfortunate reality that it is us, the council and the taxpayers, that are obliged to pick up the bill for these extra costs.
“We simply don’t have a choice if we want to protect this key east-west route into the future and of course, free locals and visitors from the misery of repeat closures.”
The meeting heard that part of the extra costs had arisen because of the Department for Transport’s later than expected award of funding for the scheme.
The council’s contractor John Sisk & Son can seek additional payment for extra costs for dealing with unexpected changes, known as a ‘compensation event’.
Cllr Duncan said that the council were “not pushovers” and were scrutinising every request for compensation “robustly”.
“We have actually rejected a number of compensation requests outright. We are prepared to reject more in the future.”
But he added:
“The choice before us today is not much of a choice at all.
“It’s either reject the release of the £11.7m that’s required in effect halting this scheme that we know is vitally important in safeguarding the A59.
“That means more landslips, more disruption, more costs, or agree to release the £11.7m and the scheme progresses without delay keeping us on track in delivering this essential upgrade, protecting the A59 future for thousands of people who rely on it and ending the misery of Kex Gill once and for all.
“It’s not a decision we want to make, but I feel very much it is a decision we have to make.”
Councillors were told the scheme was the most ambitious highways project ever undertaken by the authority due to the terrain, the height of the route and because it was a sensitive area for wildlife.
The road has been closed 15 times since 2000 and has cost the authority £6m to keep open during that time.
The council says the work is on track to be completed in spring next year.
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