A1231 reopening after spillage of lard-like fatty deposits

The road had been closed eastbound between the Mill House roundabout and the A182 Washington Highway since an HGV spilled some of its load of around two tonnes of a non-hazardous by product of the leather tanning process, along a half mile section of the A1231 on Thursday November 29.

Final work was completed this morning.

Sunderland City Council said the nature, quantity of the material and the extent and complexity of the recovery operation, meant specialist contractors had to be brought in by the company which owns the HGV to carry out a clean-up operation. However tests last week confirmed this hadn't had enough impact to allow the high-speed road to re-open safely and the council said resurfacing teams were being brought in.

Councillor Amy Wilson, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said today: “This is a critical link in our network used by thousands of people every day so its re-opening is really good news for all those who use it on their daily commute.

“We completely understand the inconvenience the closure has caused for the drivers of the 17,000 vehicles who use it each day but this is a high speed road and public safety is paramount, so we couldn’t allow it to reopen until we were satisfied it was safe to do so. We will be seeking the full recovery of the costs incurred as a result of the resurfacing.”

Highway Engineers estimate that in total, around 10,000 square metres of road needed to be resurfaced. This included:- Approximately 900 metres of the dual carriageway - A 300 metre section of the off-slip road - Some additional areas The council said it will be seeking full recovery of the costs incurred.