Newark town centre road reopens more than 10 months after sinkhole appeared

General view of traffic on Queen’s Road for the first time since April 2023

After almost a year of repairs, a busy road in the centre of Newark has finally reopened. Queen’s Road first closed on April 18, 2023 and after more than 10 months the stretch of between North Gate and the Lover’s Lane roundabout road was reopened to traffic on Sunday, February 19.

The road had at one point reopened in June, but after three days closed again due to a second sinkhole opening up. Repairs had been ongoing at the site on and off throughout the year, with severe periods of rain causing delays.

This is due to the collapsed Victorian culvert beneath Queen’s Road being in need of repair, as well as the resurfacing of the road itself. New pipework was laid before the end of 2023, and further repairs have been completed in recent weeks.

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This included the remaining pipework to be laid in January, and last week the work to backfill the excavation and demobilise the site took place. The reinstatement of the trench and lining works has also been completed.

However, the road has still not been resurfaced, and this will occur in the near future after the road has been trafficked and the surface has settled. Additional resurfacing has also been planned for the nearby King’s Road in March.

Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment at Nottinghamshire County Council said: “I’m pleased to let residents know that Queen’s Road is now back open to traffic. Since the initial collapse took place, this has been a very challenging project and the complexity of the repairs has been added to with the exceptional weather events we’ve experienced over recent months.

“I’ve shared residents’ frustrations in the time it has taken to get the road back open, but the safety of workers is paramount and it’s important that we make the right repair – I thank them for their patience.”