Busy Sunderland road set to remain closed tomorrow as clean-up continues

Drivers will face rush hour delays tomorrow, with a busy Sunderland road set to remain closed following a major spillage.
Clean-up work under wayClean-up work under way
Clean-up work under way

Work to reopen the eastbound carriageway of the A1231 Sunderland Highway between the Mill House roundabout and the A182 Washington Highway is expected to carry on into this week after the spill.

As a result the road has been closed eastbound since then.

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Due to the nature and quantity of the material involved and the extent and complexity of the recovery operation, the company which owns the HGV which spilled its load has brought in a specialist company to carry out the clean-up operation.

Coun Amy Wilson, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Public safety is paramount and at this stage it just isn’t safe to reopen the road.

"Despite extensive work to remove the bulk of the waste, the road remains extremely slippery and isn’t safe to drive on.

“Following an on site meeting today we are continuing to work with the company to employ a range of tried and tested options including scraping the road surface and using high pressure hoses and detergents in a contained manner to power-wash the fatty residue from the road but so far this has had a limited impact.

“This is a critical link in our network so we are working on a solution that will allow us to reopen the road safely as soon as possible."