Diversions in place as work takes place at Skipton car park (From Craven Herald)

Diversions in place as work takes place at Skipton car park

9:00am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News

Motorists wanting to use Skipton’s Coach Street car park are being advised to allow extra time to avoid missed or late appointments.

Yorkshire Water, which is carrying out a five-month, £1m flood alleviation project, has now put diversions in place.

Traffic can no longer enter the car park from Gargrave Road and is being diverted to the High Street and along Swadford Street.

A spokesman said the company had wanted to keep the normal access open as long as possible.

“During these restrictions, there will be no entry for vehicles onto Coach Street from Gargrave Road, therefore all vehicles requiring access to Coach Street car park and to Spindle Mill will be diverted along the High Street to use the Coach Street junction with Swadford Street.

“We would like to stress that people should not ignore the road closed signs and follow the diversion as these restrictions are in place for health and safety reasons. Also, if anyone is travelling to the area for a certain appointment or time, it would be wise to allow an extra five to ten minutes for their journey.”

Yorkshire Water is building an underground tank for the storage of storm water underneath the car park. The tank will be capable of holding 1.2m litres of water and will measure 15 metres in diameter and ten metres deep.

The project is designed to significantly reduce the risk of flooding to 13 nearby properties and is part of Yorkshire Water’s £120m investment programme to upgrade its sewer network and treatment facilities.

Businesses in the area will remain open throughout the work and the company is working with them and with the chamber of trade to keep disruption to a minimum.

The building of the tank itself is expected to take around three months and the work is expected to be completed by the end of May.