Drivers urged to prepare for bridge closure

Kerry Ryan from Hull City Council wants more people to use public transport during the work

Drivers are being warned of more congestion in Hull as a key city centre bridge closes to traffic.

Drypool Bridge will be shut from Monday for "a major repair and strengthening programme" which Hull City Council announced earlier this month.

Diversions will be in place, there will be a temporary park and ride site, and changes to traffic light timings as the authority attempts to minimise congestion.

Kerry Ryan, head of transport and traffic management at the council, said: "We totally appreciate there is going to be an increase in congestion, and it is going to impact people. The mitigations that we've put in place are to make that shift to public transport as attractive as possible."

The park and ride car park is just off Holderness Road

The work on the bridge across the River Hull follows an inspection in April, which found "significant deterioration to several of the structure's load bearing columns."

The temporary park and ride is on the site of the former Evans Halshaw car dealership off Holderness Road, and will initially include spaces for more than 200 vehicles - including 11 disabled parking spaces.

A further 94 additional spaces could be allocated if there is demand.

Drivers will be able to park free of charge, and then board a service from one of the nearby bus stops for a discounted fare of £2 return.

Ms Ryan added: "We understand that not everybody can use buses as a mode of transport. But the more vehicles we can take off the road, the less traffic we will have at peak times."

Other measures introduced by the council include temporarily changing the operating area of the city centre bus gate.

It will be in operation from Guildhall Road to Dock Street, eastbound only, and will stop vehicles from entering other than those authorised.

Diversions will be in place for general traffic around the city.

Artificial Intelligence will also be used to adjust traffic light timings at congestion hotspots - including at the junctions of Witham and Cleveland Street, Holderness Road and Dansom Lane, and Great Union Street and St Peter's Street.

Ms Ryan said: "I don't think there's ever a right time to close such a major bridge in the city centre - but the work needs to be done, and it's an important piece of work we have to do.

"What we need to do is get the bridge to a standard where it's safe to continue to use - that's the whole purpose of getting this work done as quickly as possible."

Drypool Bridge will be fully closed to all vehicles and pedestrians from Monday 15 September to late November 2025.

Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

Download the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices