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THE estimated cost of the proposed Wyvern Link Road in Skipton has risen by more than £10m after the site was given a higher flood risk rating.
Original plans to build an embankment to protect the 190m road joining Engine Shed Lane to the A629 bypass, dubbed the 'road to nowhere', were put at between £2 million and £4 million by North Yorkshire Council officers.
But following a reassessment by the Environment Agency which saw the site go into a flood zone 3b, a viaduct instead of an embankment will have to be built, heard a meeting of the council.
There is currently no funding for the building of the road—now estimated at around £15m, and a third of the £90,000 from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority towards the design stage has been spent.
Officers at the Skipton and Ripon Constituency meeting of North Yorkshire Council told councillors said there was however a commitment to the project and that a report detailing what would be involved in the road being built, including the viaduct, necessary street furniture, and assessment of potentially contaminated land, would be completed by the end of October.
A map pf the challenging site (Image: Align Property Services)
Some councillors at the meeting in Skipton responded with dismay at the 'eye-watering' increase in cost of the project, which was first mooted by the former Craven District Council eight years ago, with its expected completion influencing development in the area, including the building of new homes and the relocation of the council's waste site to Engine Shed Lane.
Earlier in the meeting, Skipton resident, Tim Forman, who has long campaigned for the completion of the project, urged the council to get on with the road, describing it as a 'missing link in Skipton's infrastructure'.
Design specialists from the council's Align consultancy, described the challenges of the project including how there had been a nine month delay in necessary meetings with the Environment Agency with representatives busy on their own projects and which had only been solved recently following conversations at 'very high level'.
A specialist said the change of flood rating to 3b meant restrictions to development, if 'at all' and was very different to a site allocated in flood zone two.
"The environmental (embankment) option is completely now off the table and the option now is a viaduct option which allows flood water to move freely," he said.
The estimated cost of the viaduct alone was £4.5m and there would be additional costs with all the other additional work, such as signage, correcting ground conditions and an old stream system.
The EA would also insist on mitigated storage capacity which would have to be sited within the site boundary and the possible place of its location showed signs of contamination.
"The complexities of the location, as unpalatable as they might be, means it will be £15m for this scheme which is a substantial change from what was an easy embankment development," he said.
Helen Watson, senior engineer, major projects, said a position statement, together with a programme of the additional technical work needed would be prepared by the end of October.
"Importantly, the project is continuing to move forward. The council is committed to undertaking this work," she said.
The 'road to nowhere' stops at Wyvern Road (Image: Lesley Tate)
Councillor Simon Myers (Con, Mid-Craven) said: "The sums of money do seem eye-watering, and hopefully will be reduced. The important thing is we have a workable, costed scheme acceptable to the Environment Agency so we can to to the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and everywhere else for funding. It is important to remember that the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) was very keen on the scheme and the LEP has given way to the Combined Authority."
Committee vice chair, Councillor Andy Solloway (Skipton West, NY Ind), said that he believed the road would now not be completed in the lifetime of the current council and added that it was taking longer than the A59 Kex Gill realignment.
Cllr Richard Foster (Con, Wharfedale), said he would like to see the flood rating challenged by officers and added that the road if built would only be shut a few days a years due to flooding.