Urgent Tadcaster viaduct improvements enable residents to cross river

North Yorkshire County Council has completed improvements to the footpath over the viaduct in Tadcaster in order to maintain pedestrian access across the River Wharfe.

The path over the viaduct had turned into a quagmire during the recent heavy rains and its heavy use after the main bridge in Tadcaster which links the town collapsed into the river due flooding.

The county council’s contractors have now treated the viaduct path with road planings and have installed lighting along its length in order to provide a safe and adequate footpath over the viaduct until an alternative footbridge can be built.

The county council welcomes the Government’s announcement today that it will provide £3m for the restoration of the bridge in Tadcaster and £300,000 to construct a temporary footbridge to serve the community while the work to the main bridge is ongoing.

County Councillor Carl Les, North Yorkshire’s Leader has welcomed the Government funding support.  He said “Our aim is to get life in Tadcaster back to normal as quickly as possible.

“Reconstructing a listed 18th century bridge of this nature, with its series of masonary arches, is a highly complex and skilled operation which the county council is best placed and has the necessary expertise to carry out.  The county’s bridges engineers estimate the work will take about 12 months to complete.”

The County Council’s diving engineers will carry out another survey of the bridge once the river level has fallen sufficiently for this to be carried out safely.

However, the County Council is concerned that the owners of the Samuel Smith Old Brewery which owns the land on which a temporary footbridge would be built, is objecting to the project.  Cllr Les added: ‘We urge the brewery owner to reconsider this position and allow the construction of the footbridge, which is so badly needed by residents and traders to reconnect the town.

“We are looking to see if an alternative location is feasible for building the footbridge but we are also pursuing every legal avenue to see if we can use our preferred location, despite the landowner’s objections.”

In the meantime a shuttle bus to take passengers via the A64 from one side of the River Wharfe to the other, continues to operate.

The latest timetable for shuttle bus connections for Tadcaster is available on the following link:  http://www.northyorks.gov.uk/shuttlebus