A MAJOR road between Selby and York has reopened ahead of schedule after almost three months of works to create a new £1.8 million roundabout.

The A19 was closed to traffic in March to allow a new, three-lane roundabout to be built safely, at the junction to the A63 at Osgodby follows years of requests for new measures to help prevent crashes.

Residents of Barlby complained about the diversion of traffic from the A19 through the village after many heavy goods vehicles ignored a route specially set up to take larger vehicles around the M62 and A645 through Drax and Camblesforth into Selby.

North Yorkshire County Councillor Brian Marshall, local member for Barlby, said: “The opening of this roundabout will make life safer and easier for the local population and the entire travelling public and we have campaigned long and hard for it. We are delighted that the roundabout is to be completed so many weeks earlier than expected.

“The people of Barlby and Osgodby and local businesses have had to put up with a great deal of disruption and inconvenience due to the diversion through their villages, but this has meant that the contractors have been able to get on with the job uninterrupted. We are very grateful to Jackson engineering for working all hours to finish this crucial project in such good time and lessen the pain for all concerned.”

The project was originally due to take 22 weeks to complete, with ten weeks of full road closure and 12 weeks of temporary lights, but contractors Jackson Civil Engineering worked seven-day weeks to ensure the roundabout, which will be used by an average of 33,000 vehicles every day, was finished 11 weeks ahead of schedule.

Andy Burton, regional manager of Jackson Civil Engineering, said: “We hope that the early completion will go some way to compensating for the disruption caused to motorists. We hope they enjoy using the new roundabout, which should ease congestion in the area, and make the junction far safer than it has been in the past.”