B4069 Lyneham Banks repair plans submitted by council

The B4069 has been closed for over two years at Lyneham Banks after the key road, linking Chippenham and Lyneham, buckled in a landslip in February 2022.

The incident left the ground at the site unstable and the council spent over a year assessing the different solutions to repair the highway.

In April last year, council officers announced they had settled on a preliminary design for a scheme, costing around £5.9 million, to rebuild the damaged section of road guard against future ground movements.

A planning application has now been submitted to gain consent for this project to go ahead.

If approved, around 140 metres of the B4069 carriageway that was dislodged or damaged in the landslip would be reinstated.

Plans for the Lyneham Banks repairs released by the council last April (Image: Wiltshire Council)

Counterfort and herringbone drains would also be installed perpendicular to the route, along with a crest ditch at the top of the nearby slope, to prevent future ground failures south of the road.

The proposed solutions north of the road include a new 108-metre bored pile retaining wall to stabilise the ground and avoid future slips.

If planning permission is granted, the council expects construction on repairing the road to begin in May 2024.

These works are expected to last between nine and 12 months, meaning the road could potentially reopen in 2025.

The council has previously said it is searching for a contractor to complete the significant project and hopes to announce an appointment in April.

Local businesses have been critical of the long delays in repairing the route.

Damage to the B4069 (Image: SWNS)

Last year multiple companies told this paper the closure had caused a huge reduction in passing trade, leaving them in a “nightmare” situation.

In their design and access statement, Atkins, which prepared the application on behalf of the council, spoke of the importance of reinstating the busy road.

They said: “Wiltshire Council has a duty as highway authority to repair the existing road.

“The B4069 is a regionally important route providing connectivity between junction 17 of the M4 and North Wiltshire as well as serving several local communities.

“As such, the road closure is placing pressure on the existing highway network as, prior to the landslip, the B4069 was estimated to carry over 5,500 vehicles per weekday and over 35,000 vehicle movements per week.

“The Proposed Scheme is required to ease this.”