COMMUNITY leaders are calling for a major investigation to sort out road chaos and safety on one of the main routes into the Dales after a historic bridge was hit and badly damaged for the third time in eighteen months.

It’s just two months since repairs on the bridge at Morton on Swale were finished after the last crash which caused weeks of delays on the main A684 road from Northallerton through Bedale and into Wensleydale. That came after repairs had to be done in spring 2017 on the beleaguered bridge following a previous crash.

“It’s just ridiculous,” said Morton on Swale parish councillor James Sanderson. “We don’t know what to say anymore to find ways of stopping this. It needs a major investigation to look at the whole issue.

“We did think about speed restrictions on the other side of the bridge, or speed calming in the village but because it’s a main route Highways are reluctant to do anything. It’s just astonishing that anyone can crash into that bridge. We have been continually raising this there have been so many crashes but we don’t seem to get anywhere.

“And when they do repairs it takes forever there seems to be nobody working on them half the time.”

District councillor for the village Cllr Brian Phillips said:” You would have thought that with the number of times the bridge has been hit Highways would be looking to put in some preventative measures

“ They need to look again at a possible bypass particularly in light of the developments at North Northallerton and the need for traffic from there to access the A1.”

Despite the damage repairs are not set to be done for some months to avoid chaos over the busy tourist season. A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Highways said: “As a temporary measure, concrete barriers have been erected to protect the bridge, which remains open. Wherever possible in instances where vehicles damage roads or bridges, the County Council will recharge the driver involved. It will be able to do so in the case of this latest damage.

“Morton-on-Swale Bridge is a Grade II listed structure, so repairs need to be designed and approved with partners, including Historic England. The County Council is reviewing whether it can introduce additional measures to highlight the presence of the bridge to reduce the likelihood of future strikes.

“Repairs following an earlier vehicle strike to the bridge were completed at the end of April.”