The B4069 Lyneham Banks, once dubbed Britain’s wonkiest road after a major landslip in 2022, will be reopening this week.
The road has been shut since a major landslip caused a significant section of the busy highway to buckle in February 2022 - Wiltshire Council has since spent approximately £5m fixing the route.
In a post on social media this evening, Cllr Allison Bucknell, Wiltshire Councillor for Lyneham, confirmed the opening saying: “It is with immense pleasure that I can confirm that the B4069 Lyneham Banks will be re-opening on Wednesday April 2nd. The exact time depends on the final checks taking place in the morning - it is likely to be some time after lunch.
“It has been a long, slow journey to get to where we are today, and I would like to pay tribute to all of the officers and contractors who have worked on this project, and to the residents and businesses who have had to put up with a huge amount of inconvenience.
”There have been calls from residents for an “official opening”. Whilst I personally would have supported that, this is not normal practice for Wiltshire Council so no balloons, no fanfare, no drumroll. The most important thing is that we can get our lives back to “normal” as soon as possible.”
There have been ongoing problems with the B4069 for at least two decades and in February 2022 a landslip took 90 metres of both sides of the carriageway 25m down the steep valley side.
In July last year, works were finally able to begin. At the time, Wiltshire Councillor Nick Holder, who was is in charge of overseeing the project, said that contractors were geared up to get the road open as soon as possible. He explained that contractors had to wait for the land to stop moving before work could commence.
Businesses affected by the two-year closure will no doubt be relieved to hear of the road’s reopening on Wednesday.
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