THE Highways Agency is expected to be urged on Monday to give a high priority to building a bridge over the A19 at an accident blackspot.

The central reservation gap at the Black Swan crossroads, between Ingleby Arncliffe and Crathorne, was closed by the agency in June last year as a safety measure for an experimental 18 months.

The move forced drivers travelling between villages east and west of the A19 to use the nearest junctions to the north and south, leading to fears that some other communities could see an unacceptable increase in traffic movements.

The Hambleton area committee of North Yorkshire County Council will be told on Monday that if the closure of the central gap is made permanent, it is essential that a high priority is given by the Highways Agency to funding a new bridge across the A19 at that point.

Committee members meeting at Hutton Rudby will be given details by traffic management officers of two options for a bridge, developed by the agency following a feasibility study.

The option being recommended by the agency, and supported by the council, is the cheaper and more compact of the two, although there is a warning that its steep approach gradients might prove more difficult for cyclists.

Mike Moore, the county's director of environmental services, is urging members to support this option because it appears to have the greater chance of funding in competition with other schemes.

Mr Moore says closure of the central gap has addressed the accident problem at Black Swan crossroads and there is no indication that road safety has been made any worse at other locations within a five- mile radius.

An audit is being prepared of parish council requests for traffic calming and other measures on local roads affected by the closure and information will be sent to the Highways Agency with a request for funding.

Mr Moore adds that a number of objections to the experimental closure will be considered by the agency before a decision is taken on whether to make it permanent.

He says police support the introduction of a bridge, as well as the temporary closure of the gap, because it is believed to have helped save lives. For practical reasons, they cannot support reopening the gap and introducing a 50mph limit enforced by speed cameras.