Swing bridge glitch causes Selby delays

9:20am Saturday 30th June 2012 in News Photograph of the Author By Dan Bean, dan.bean@thepress.co.uk

Traffic queues on Selby Bypass Traffic queues on Selby Bypass

HUNDREDS of motorists were caught in queuing traffic around Selby after the swing bridge on the bypass closed for almost four hours.

The A63 Selby bypass was closed between the A19 at Barlby and the A1041 after an electrical fault caused the mechanism of the swing bridge to remain open.

The incident occurred at about 8am, after the bridge was opened to allow a boat to travel along the River Ouse.

A North Yorkshire County Council spokeswoman said an electrical fault in the bridge mechanism left it stuck in the open position, as motorists waited at both sides to cross.

Mick Trueman runs a car dealership in Station Road, and said his morning commute from North Duffield, which ordinarily takes ten minutes, took him over an hour due to the bridge closure, and could have cost him thousands of pounds in custom.

Mr Trueman said: “I had a client coming from York this morning to see a couple of vehicles, and when he heard about the trouble he phoned me to say he’s not coming.

“I never realised there was a problem until I heard it on the car radio. There were queues right back to Riccall. It’s cost me a customer, worth up to £4,600, unless he comes back another time.”

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Selby police were aware of the problem, which was said to have caused tailbacks from the town centre as far as Riccall and Barlby, but were not required to redirect traffic, as electronic warnings were put out on signs around the town to highlight the problems.

This is not the first time the bridge has brought traffic to a standstill - in June 2010, a similar fault led to closure of the road and congestion on the A63, with police called out to turn back rush hour motorists.

The county council spokeswoman said the mechanical failure was fixed by engineers at about 11.40am yesterday.

She said: “Engineers have made temporary repairs to the bridge to allow traffic through.”

Comments(18)

idlehousewife says...
10:20am Fri 29 Jun 12

Thanks for that Dan! I was just about to go to Selby!

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Down With The Council Tax says...
10:34am Fri 29 Jun 12

I hope Selby District Council Planning Committee are reading this story one small problem with the Swing Bridge and Selby is gridlocked Barlby is blocked to capacity on every road what do you think this is going to be like when you put another 1000 houses on BOCM or will you do as you usual do turn your heads ignore it and fast track the planning application

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idlehousewife says...
10:45am Fri 29 Jun 12

Has there really been an application to that effect?

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A user says...
10:57am Fri 29 Jun 12

Also, the signs to say the bridge is closed isnt working... Although the other night they were on to say it was closed...and it wasnt.... IDIOTS!!!

I notice the traffic lights at the Town Hall junction are only letting about 4 cars out of town again..

It's about time someone sorted this mess out!!

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colette says...
11:40am Fri 29 Jun 12

Even without my crystal ball, I foresee even MORE lorries trying to get over Cawood Bridge today -

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Oncebitten says...
12:10pm Fri 29 Jun 12

Mr Bean, how do you cope with all the excitement!!!

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sicarr83 says...
1:46pm Fri 29 Jun 12

The bridge needs to be seriously looked at, everytime I've known when they've opened the bridge to let a ship/boat through it has failed to close again.

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charliewalker says...
3:18pm Fri 29 Jun 12

sircarr83, you've only known about the bridge not closing because it makes news everytime, how about all the other times when it opens and closes without a hitch? It may open 5 times a week for all we know but its its working fine it wont be newsworthy.

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sicarr83 says...
4:32pm Fri 29 Jun 12

oh how stupid of me, yes its the news. The fact that I travel down that road 2 times a day, 5 days a week makes no difference. Apologies, I should have made it clearer on in my first comment.

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SELBY :-) says...
6:06pm Fri 29 Jun 12

Down With The Council Tax wrote:
I hope Selby District Council Planning Committee are reading this story one small problem with the Swing Bridge and Selby is gridlocked Barlby is blocked to capacity on every road what do you think this is going to be like when you put another 1000 houses on BOCM or will you do as you usual do turn your heads ignore it and fast track the planning application
Oh yes, they will have it through super fast!

Its only the valid ones that get declined - like mine!

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Magicman! says...
2:44am Sat 30 Jun 12

People complaining about the amount of traffic congestion as a result of this: would not the same outcome happen if, for example, Lendal Bridge was suddenly shut without warning in York?

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A user says...
1:17pm Sat 30 Jun 12

Magicman! wrote:
People complaining about the amount of traffic congestion as a result of this: would not the same outcome happen if, for example, Lendal Bridge was suddenly shut without warning in York?
Maybe, but that one is less likely to swing ;)

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the butler says...
6:04pm Sat 30 Jun 12

Would it be too much to ask Selby council to hire an industrial electrical company to do a full inspection of the bridge system then upgrade the wiring and switches as needed?

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PKH says...
11:00pm Sat 30 Jun 12

the butler wrote:
Would it be too much to ask Selby council to hire an industrial electrical company to do a full inspection of the bridge system then upgrade the wiring and switches as needed?
I doubt it's down to Selby Council North Yorkshire County Council is the relevant highway authority

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Magicman! says...
1:49am Mon 2 Jul 12

A user wrote:
Magicman! wrote:
People complaining about the amount of traffic congestion as a result of this: would not the same outcome happen if, for example, Lendal Bridge was suddenly shut without warning in York?
Maybe, but that one is less likely to swing ;)
True... very true :)

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pedalling paul says...
8:05am Mon 2 Jul 12

In the past, the railway swing bridge has been unable to swing in hot weather. The local Fire & Rescue Service have had to play hoses on the structure to cool it down and make the metalwork contract slightly.
Mind you, not much sign of the sun at present...!

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bloodaxe says...
6:02pm Mon 2 Jul 12

the butler wrote:
Would it be too much to ask Selby council to hire an industrial electrical company to do a full inspection of the bridge system then upgrade the wiring and switches as needed?
The Highways Authority.

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johnny_t says...
3:31pm Tue 17 Jul 12

The problem wasn't just the fact the 'big' swing bridge broke down, but also that the 'little' swing bridge was also open (as in not passing traffic) at the same time to let a boat through. There should be a rule not allowing the old toll bridge to be swung during rush hour anyway....

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