There is relief for motorists this morning using the A67 between Darlington and Barnard Castle.

After being closed for nearly a year, the section of road at Carlbury has re-opened.

It follows repairs to the road damaged by a landslip in February 2013 between High Coniscliffe and Piercebridge.

Back then, after ground investigation works by Darlington Borough Council the road was re-opened with traffic lights, reduced speed limit and the re-distribution of water supply, underpinned by regular monitoring of the embankment.

The Extent of the work needed to provide a permanent solution was identified last year and revealed that a 387m stretch of the embankment was unstable and an estimated £4m was needed to provide a suitable solution to the problem.

In October 2013, Darlington Borough Council submitted a detailed bid to the Government’s Pinch Point Fund for the money.

This was made up of a proposed contribution of £878,000 from the Council and £596,000 from Northumbrian Water Limited, who is a partner in the bid and will be undertaking works that allow the Council to work on the embankment.

In December, £2.4million was awarded from the Government to help provide a permanent solution to the problem.

Work to repair the landslip started last May and took place in three phases:-

*    Phase one saw the A67 road closed from 8th February 2014 for two weeks.                               
This was to enable Northumbrian Water Limited to carry out tests in advance of the main works starting.
The road then re-open with traffic lights.

*    Phase two saw the road closed again on the 2nd June 2014 to allow Northumbrian Water Limited to divert pipes out of the unstable section of road.                                                                                                     
Darlington Borough Council said they expected this to take around four months, involving a diversion of around 1km of new pipeline and some major works within the road.

*    Phase three saw the road remain closed so as to allow the Council to stabilise the 387m of unstable embankment and road.

Councillor Bill Dixon, Leader of Darlington Borough Council said:

"The landslip was an unforeseen event that the Council had to deal with.

"This has been a major engineering project involving different organisations, local businesses, and securing external funding.

"The absence of this important link road has been keenly felt amongst local residents and businesses and I am sure that everyone will be pleased to see the road reopen.

"I would like to thank all those involved for their hard work and all who have been affected by the road closure for their patience throughout what has been a challenging time."