A York road will stay closed until 22 October after flood construction work ran into a major technical challenge.
Wellington Row, beneath Lendal Bridge, will stay shut due to delays in completing the Scarborough Bridge to Ouse Bridge Flood Scheme.
The construction team has found a large concrete slab directly over the top of two high voltage power cables owned by National Power Grid.
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The concrete slab will need removing before they can install the foundation and frame for the new floodgate.
Only then can the construction team move on to complete the remainder of the scheduled work.
The Environment Agency says that upgrading the floodgate under Lendal Bridge is an essential part of the £45 million York Flood Alleviation Scheme that will better protect 2,000 homes and businesses.
Originally the road was scheduled to reopen by 22 July.
The team have investigated whether they can partially re-open the road over the summer months to allow pedestrians and cyclists to use it, as they appreciate how beneficial this would be.
But they told YorkMix this will not be practical as construction work underneath the arch will only be paused for short period of time.
And to allow for temporary access, they would have needed to fill the large holes that have been hand-excavated and then dig the holes once more, once work restarts.
They say this would be time-consuming and wasteful.
It is appreciated that this is not ideal from a cyclist and pedestrian perspective and they apologise for the inconvenience caused.
The team says they are doing their best we are told to complete the works as soon as possible, and they are in the process of arranging a walkthrough of the diversions, with the City of York Council Highways officers, to see if there are any adjustments which can made to improve the route and signage.
We reported in May the concerns of Karen Moir, owner the Perky Peacock in the Postern Tower on North Street, who feared the road closure would have a serious impact on her business.