Refurbishment work is due to be carried out on Winston Bridge from January 8. Durham County Council plans to temporarily shut the bridge for five weeks. For the first three of those, work will be carried out in the day resulting in a night-time closure. This will be followed by a two-week full closure.
From the northern side, drivers will be diverted along the A67, through Gainford to Piercebridge, along the B6275 to join the A1 at Barton. They will then be directed to Scotch Corner to join the A66 and leave at the Caldwell junction for the B6274, and vice versa.
This could see a usual three-mile trip from Winston to Caldwell turning into a 20-mile journey one way.
Ovington parish councillor Peter Levett branded the closure a “nightmare”.
He said: “It is ridiculous. It is going to be a nightmare. It means massive diversions There are shorter routes but they have got weight limits on them. It is going to be a nightmare for wagons who come through who haven’t seen the signs.”
Cllr Levett was also concerned about the need for traffic to get across the bridge in an emergency. He said: “It is going to be an inconvenience for anyone who needs the doctor and for emergency response vehicles.
“Fire engines can’t come over Whorlton Bridge so they will have to come Barnard Castle way over Abbey Bridge. Our local doctor is at Gainford so that is going to be a right pain.”
The bridge also forms part of school bus routes which will be affected. Cllr Levett said: “It is going to a total nightmare for school buses which have to run twice a day. It is going to be a major inconvenience for many.
“I think Durham County Council could have done a bit more to notify residents. Nobody in the village is aware of it I don’t think apart from ourselves. We had an email that we had to plough through to find it. We haven’t had a meeting to discuss it yet.”
The landlord of The Four Alls at Ovington, John Stroud, has expressed his concerns.
Mr Stroud said: “We have been aware for about a day after overhearing a conversation. What can we do?
“It probably will have an effect on business. We do get people coming from the other side of the river. Will they follow the diversion or just not bother for a few weeks? I don’t know how other businesses in the area are going to fair.
“We were wondering how school buses are going to manage too. We have buses picking kids up in the village on a morning.
“The county council has not contacted us about it. It would have been nice to have been told.”
Winston Parish Council is less concerned. Chairman Cllr Mike Taylor said: “The repairs to the bridge is work that has to be done. We have been concerned in the past about the large number of heavy lorries using it. I don’t know if that has aggravated the need for repairs. This closure will inconvenience lots of people but it has to be done. It is an old bridge which is bound to need repairing.”
The county council has reassured residents that the work will be completed as soon as possible. Durham County Council’s head of technical services, John Reed, said: “We are carrying out masonry repairs and resurfacing the road and footpaths at Winston Bridge.
“The work will require the bridge to be closed from January 8 for around five weeks although it will be open the first three weeks at nights between 6pm and 6am.
“A diversion route will be in place while the bridge is closed with signs up in the local area to let people know.
“We’d like to assure everyone who uses the bridge the work will be done as quickly as possible and thank them in advance for their patience and understanding.”
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