Shropshire Star

Here's when landslip-hit road that's been closed for more than three years is set to reopen

A council has published a timetable that will see a road reopen on the Shropshire/Welsh border after it was closed three years ago due to a landslip.

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The B5605 in Newbridge, in Wrexham county borough, was closed in January 2021 after a large part of the road collapsed down an embankment during Storm Christoph.

There have since been lengthy delays to repair work, causing frustration for drivers who use the busy route between Cefn Mawr and Chirk, which also acts as a diversion from the A483 bypass.

The Welsh Government awarded £2.8m in funding to Wrexham Council to cover the cost of the repairs in May 2022.

Now Wrexham Council has said it has a timetable for the repairs and they could be completed by next spring.

Newbridge Road. Picture: Wrexham Council

A spokesperson for the authority said: “The land slip on the B5605 is a complex and difficult engineering challenge and whilst we have a let a contract for the delivery of the repairs, this is still a challenging set of circumstances.

“Officers are meeting with the contractors and the commercial advisors regularly.

“We have a final design now and this requires extensive accommodation and preparatory works to provide access and egress to facilitate the repair.

“We provide regular and routine updates on the project via All Member Information Reports. We are committed to continue to update everyone on a regular basis as milestones and emerging issues are encountered.

“Whilst we await a detailed breakdown of costs, especially bearing in mind we are early in contract repair works and we are conscious of the commercial sensitivity we know funding will be a challenge.  As firmer costs emerge we will update as appropriate.

“Timetable for delivery again is challenging although we still hope to see a completion date in and around spring next year.”