A36 Emergency Repair Work Closure Postponed

Emergency stabilisation work by the Highways Agency on the A36 Warminster Road has been postponed until September.

The work, which was scheduled to take up to three months, involves the A36 from Bathampton to Brassknocker Hill in Monkton Combe being closed for necessary remedial repairs to be carried out.

The road had some parts resurfaced last year, after which a survey of the road discovered cracks indicating that some parts of the road could be at risk of sliding down the hill.

The A36 provides one of the main artery routes into and out of the city and the closure will mean thousands of drivers will need to find alternative routes while the road is stabilised.

A Highways Agency spokesman has said that the work will now be delayed until after the summer.

This is due to further investigation work concluding that specialist equipment would be needed to stabilise the road effectively.

The announcement comes at a time when the Council were negotiating with the Highways Agency to move the scheduling of the repair work due to the ongoing impact of the B3110 Midford Road closure which is set to remain closed for the next month.

Back in December, when the emergency repair work on the A36 was announced, a Highways Agency spokesman said: “Cracks in the road surface found along this section of the A36 demonstrate evidence of slope instability.

“Work to remedy this will involve installing 14 metre deep concrete piles along a 240 metre long stretch of highway in order to ensure the road is adequately supported.”

During the work it is expected that traffic will be diverted along the A4 to Chippenham and then travel on the A350 to Warminster. Drivers heading into Bath will be following the route in reverse.