1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182 
Be prepared for 25% rise on A170 at Sutton Bank
Page 19
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
TRUCK DRIVERS are being warned about one of the country's steepest hills after many of them fail to negotiate it each year.
The A170 at Sutton Bank, North Yorkshire, between Thirsk and Scarborough, has three sections of 25% ,or one-in-four.This key route across North Yorkshire is one of the steepest gradients on any major road in England.
A campaign has now been launched by North Yorkshire County Council. North Yorkshire Police and the Freight Transport Association (FTA) to alert LGV drivers to the problems they could face when they encounter these steep climbs.
New signs have been put in place and a special anti-skid surface has been laid round a hairpin corner on the most demanding section of the route. Trials are being carried out to establish the surface's effectiveness in reducing the number of truck breakdowns.
County Councillor Peter Sowray says: "The problem with Sutton Bank, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the road, is that drivers can be misled into thinking they're 'over the worst', because the gradient varies from one section of the road to the next.
"They engage too high a gear, too soon, and then find themselves stuck with no way of moving forward?" he adds.
"The principal advice for LGV drivers is to engage a suitably low gear at the bottom of the Bank that provides flexibility to increase or decrease speed without further gear changes and stay in that gear until you get to the top."