Proposals to make a flood-hit road safer for drivers have been backed by councillors after continuous concerns over people getting stranded in floodwater and numerous closures of the road - leaving drivers with miles of diversions.
The A684 at Morton-on-Swale has been a point of contention for many years, with residents and drivers frustrated at the lack of action when it comes to signage, safety measures and prevention of water-related incidents on the stretch of road.
In January this year, three drivers, including a HGV driver, got stranded in floodwater next to the Morton-on-Swale Bridge, while the road was closed for a day and a half in December 2023 after the River Swale burst its banks and flooded the A684.
Despite temporary 'closed' and 'diversion' signs being put up on the stretch of road each time it floods, drivers have expressed their anger at not knowing that there's standing water on the road until it is 'too late', while also taking issue with the fact that the signs aren't visible in low light.
With the weather coming towards wintery conditions, and an increased chance of the A684 flooding, residents and drivers have called for more to be done.
As a result, further signage and safety measures are been explored by councillors, with members of the Northallerton and Richmond committee backing proposals for additional safety measures moving forward.
At the meeting, the importance of the A-road was noted, with councillor saying: "The A684 provides a strategic route from Northallerton to the A1 and the employment centre of Leeming Bar."
In documents connected with the meeting, the background to the flooding was also explored, with the documents stating: "The closure of the road due to flooding causes significant impact to road users."
The plans put forward at Monday's meeting will mean that the proposed signs will illuminate to advise that the road is closed upon the point of water breach, which will give traffic an instant message as they approach the locations.
"This will also assist the area highways team and emergency services in their flood response as it gives an instant message to traffic this should reduce the number of abandoned/trapped vehicles in the floods, allowing the emergency services to focus on other priority areas and the highways team time to focus on getting the hard closure in place."
Alongside the signs, the proposed work will involve the installation of sensors at the point where flood water breaches the carriageway and electronic signs at Warlaby Crossroads and to the west at the eastern roundabout junction with Bedale Bypass.
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Councillors at the meeting also discussed work to reduce flooding on the A684 but cited that this was being 'explored independently' by the council.
According to councillors, the signs and other safety measures put forward would reduce the impact that flooding will have on road users by up to 12,000 a day.
It's expected that the signs and installation will cost £102,000, which will be sourced from match funding and £40,000 from North Yorkshire Council's capital funds.
Members of the Northallerton and Richmond committee backed the plans, which will now be put forward for a full scoping review and further discussion in October.
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