Via East Midlands back working at Queens Road, Newark, four days after it re-opened as carriageway defect discovered

A road that was closed for weeks to the ire of motorists and the businesses in Newark has shut again today, having been open for just four days.

Queens Road has been closed again between its junctions with Northgate and Lovers Lane because a carriageway defect has now been discovered and needs to be repaired.

An urgent temporary road closure was granted for works to begin at 11.30am this morning and conclude at 5pm, when the road is expected to re-open again.

Via East Midlands is carrying out the work.

As usual, the alternative route is Northgate, Lincoln Road, Northern Road, Beacon Hill Road, Sleaford Road, Queens Road and vice-versa.

Queens Road was closed to traffic in April for repairs to the carriageway after a sinkhole appeared and led to a collapse in the road surface.

Via East Midlands had carried out the works alongside Severn Trent after an investigation into the sinkhole revealed the cause to be a Victorian brick-built culvert collapsing beneath the road.

Three separate repairs were carried out in order to make the culvert safe, while the road has remained closed to traffic and it had been believed that they were done satisfactorily.

Nottinghamshire County Council, who have responsibility for maintaining the county’s roads, said that while undertaking these emergency repairs, it became apparent that the culvert was in very poor condition and that more extensive works will be required to prevent further collapses in the future.

Designers are now currently working on a solution and the council anticipate the another round of planned repair works will take place on the site by early autumn.

During this time it will be necessary to close the road yet again while the work is carried out, with the closure expected to last for three to four weeks.

Once these final repairs have been made, the council say part of Queens Road and Kings Road will be resurfaced.