Nottinghamshire County Council announced that Queen’s Road, Newark is set to reopen this weekend

A road plagued by sinkholes due to a damaged culvert is reopening this weekend after being closed for nearly a year.

Queen’s Road, Newark is expected to be reopened to traffic by Sunday (February 18) and a permanent reinstatement of the trench and lining works will be completed ahead of the opening.

The road was first closed in April 2023, when a sinkhole appeared. It reopened for a few days after repair work took place, before closing again due to a second sinkhole.

The amount of rainfall experienced over recent months, including Storm Babet in October and Storm Henk in January, caused multiple delays to the project, with water levels in both the culvert and the River Trent too high for work to safely progress.

A break in weather conditions in mid-January provided the respite required to lay the remaining pipework, and the work to backfill the excavation and demobilise the site took place this week.

The final stage of the scheme will be completed in the future, once the road has been trafficked, allowing the road surface to settle.

Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, cabinet member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “I’m pleased to let residents know that Queen’s Road will be back open to traffic this weekend.

“Since the initial collapse took place, this has been a very challenging project and the complexity of the repairs has been added to with the exceptional weather events we’ve experienced over recent months.

“I’ve shared residents’ frustrations in the time it has taken to get the road back open, but the safety of workers is paramount and it’s important that we make the right repair - I thank them for their patience.

“Queen’s Road will be back open for residents and road users by Sunday.”