Motorists And Pedestrians Told To Avoid 'Britain's Most Dangerous Road' In Wiltshire
There’s a road in Wiltshire that has been dubbed ‘Britain’s most dangerous’ and it’s probably not an understatement. You can see what were on about here in the video below, it's wrecked.
In fact, it’s more well used by BMXers and skateboarders these days, given how bumpy it is.
It’s the B409 near to Lyneham in Wiltshire, and it looks like it was the site of an earthquake or some other form of natural disaster.
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In parts of it, the tarmac has completely fallen away, leaving huge crevasses in the road that you certainly wouldn’t get a car down.
It has been closed since February 17, after which the local skateboarders moved in, although they should probably take great care as well.
According to Wiltshire Council, the ripples in the road were caused by underground movement that is currently unexplained, and the road is ‘still moving’.
Nearby residents say that the subsistence has been happening for a year now, and that the end result – which you have to say is pretty cool, really – was always on the cards.
Of course, you probably wouldn’t say it was cool if you needed to drive down it.
The council have also said that they can’t get the heavy machinery out to fix it because the site is too dangerous.
Dr Mark McClelland, who is the cabinet member for transport at Wiltshire Council, said: "The B4069 at Lyneham Banks is extremely dangerous, and people should not try to access it either in a vehicle or on foot."
"The land is still slipping, and anyone who accesses the site on foot could easily trip on the uneven ground or get caught in a more serious landslide.
"Anyone who accesses the site is also in breach of the traffic order and could be prosecuted.''
Bad news for the skateboarders and BMXers then.
He told BBC Radio Wiltshire: "It could cost hundreds of thousands or up into the millions to fix.
"There is significant damage to the road. It could be up to 12 months in total.
"It's not something that can be resolved in a matter of days or weeks."
In parts of the road, it has buckled to as much as four feet.
McClelland added: "The underlying ground has slipped and we need to understand why that has happened.
"The police have been very clear that it's very dangerous for motorists to ignore signage."
Well, make sure you don’t follow the sat-nav to closely around there, because you’ll soon realise it when you get onto that bit of road.
Tom Wood