Wrexham: B5605 in Newbridge may be shut another year

Part of the B560s collapsed after heavy rain in January 2021

A road which has been closed for two years after being damaged in bad weather is unlikely to reopen in the next 12 months.

The B5605 road in Newbridge, in Wrexham county, was closed in January 2021 after Storm Christoph.

Deputy council leader David A Bithell said progress is being made with the authority hoping to appoint contractors to work on repairing the road soon.

But even then it is likely to be at least a year before it is ready.

Heavy downpours during the storm caused part of the road to collapse down an embankment.

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It serves as a busy route for local people and also acts as a diversion from the A483 bypass.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, this wait has led to a lengthy period of frustration for motorists, and residents living nearby, who have been forced to take lengthy diversions to get to work or take their children to school.

£2.8m has been given to Wrexham council for repairs

In May, the Welsh government announced it would be providing £2.8m in funding to Wrexham council to cover the cost of the repairs, and geo-technical work began in the autumn.

'Quite a lot of issues'

Mr Bithell said plans for the repair have since been drawn up as a result of that work.

"There have obviously been quite a lot of issues with the land slipping, so we appointed a geo-technical consultant as we don't have that expertise in the council," he said.

"They have got a design now for the road - my understanding is it's going out to tender in the near future with a plan to hopefully get somebody appointed in time for the autumn.

"Hopefully, subject to the tender exercise, we'll appoint someone to design and construct the new bridge.

"The footpath on one side where it slipped will be narrower because it's a really wide footpath there."

Mr Bithell added: "We need to make sure that what is built is there for the next 50 or 60 years. We don't want to build another road or bridge there and we have a similar occurrence."