Safety increased by new A1 bridge

A £1.5m bridge to increase safety on the A1 in North Yorkshire has been officially opened.

The road bridge at Rainton north of Dishforth will mainly be used by farmers who need to cross the A1 several times day.

Until now they have had to cross the busy dual carriageway using a gap in the central reservation.

Over a five year period, there were 80 accidents at Rainton crossroads, four of them fatal.

The bridge was officially opened by Arthur Ashburner from the Highways Agency.

He said: "The closure of the old central reservation junction and its replacement by the bridge will provide a safer crossing of the busy A1 for local people."

But the newly-built bridge is likely to have a limited life.

It will have to be replaced when the A1 in this area is upgraded to motorway standard later in the decade.