Hopes are rising that a bridge dubbed the road to nowhere could be open within weeks after years of delays and frustration – but developers have been unable to give an actual date.

North Yorkshire Highways say Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon are working to finish the bridge at the North Northallerton site, where 900 new homes have been built. The £12m road links both sides of the site, connecting two of the town’s main routes, the A167 Darlington Road and Stokesley Road, over the Middlesbrough to Northallerton railway line.

The builders say only minor works remain and they are coordinating the installation of lighting columns being supplied by North Yorkshire County Council Highways, which must be put in before the bridge can open, for health and safety reasons. They are expected to arrive within two weeks.

A spokesperson for Taylor Wimpey added: “We would like to reassure residents that the North Northallerton bridge is nearing completion and only a small number of minor outstanding works remain following a routine road safety audit.

“We are committed to completing the final works with Persimmon Homes and North Yorkshire County Council in order to open the bridge, and will endeavour to update residents as soon as possible.”

Executive member for North Yorkshire highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan said: “There is immense frustration with the delayed opening of the North Northallerton link road. We are keen to see the footway opened for pedestrians and cyclists as soon as possible and we are told by the developers that they are working to make this happen.

“The developers are now working to complete all the outstanding works and sign off the road safety audit process to allow the road to be fully opened. Highways officers are meeting with the developers to receive an update.”

Darlington and Stockton Times:

Hambleton councillor Steve Watson said good progress was being made to getting the road open and he is hoping it could be by the end of November.

He added: “It is making good progress towards getting open, everything is starting to line up.

“We have had considerable delays with Covid-19 and one of the biggest difficulties has been getting contractors to work because they are all flat out everywhere.

“When it is open we will be asking for an investigation to see what went wrong and what the delays were, but at the moment the most important thing is to get it open so people can use it.”

It was initially hoped the link road would be built before the houses, but most of the 900 homes were finished before it was started. Work was due to begin in 2017 and completed in spring 2019. But it was only in July 2020 that work actually started, then it was due to be completed by late 2021.