A new cycle track being built in Carlisle WILL open before the end of the year - despite being hit by a three-month delay.

The specialist circuit, in Harraby, was originally expected to open on September 17, but work is still ongoing after it was discovered that certain sections did not meet load bearing requirements.

Carlisle City Council, which is the accountable body for the project, says that remediation work is now taking place and is expected to be finished by the end of November.

But the authority has had to pump in more than £100,000 of extra cash to ensure the scheme is completed.

Although it does not pose a risk for cyclists intending to use the facility, testing revealed that some parts could not bear the weight of vehicles and machinery that would be used on site to lay the tarmac track.

The track has largely been funded by British Cycling, although contributions have also been made by Carlisle City Council, Cumbria County Council and Harraby Together We Can.

Carlisle City Council has agreed to hand over extra cash to ensure that the project is completed - a decision that has been questioned by some Conservative councillors.

At a full council meeting, Gareth Ellis, who represents Belah, asked why an extra £109,000 for the project had been approved by the council - a decision he claimed the authority had tried to keep hidden from the public.

An officer decision notice published on August 17 states: "This decision notice is to authorise further and immediate interim expenditure of £69,000 on the project.

"This is to ensure that the required remediation can be undertaken straightaway. Such urgency is required to prevent further delays and to protect the council from escalating claims from the contractor as a result of such delays."

The report says the decision was deemed "an urgent one outside of the budget", adding: "It is not practical to convene a meeting of the council and the chair of the business and transformation scrutiny panel has been consulted and agrees this is a matter of urgency."

A report outlining decisions made by the council's executive during a meeting on August 29 also shows that an extra £40,000 was allocated for the project from the reserves of leisure providers GLL.

Mr Ellis told the News & Star : "British Cycling has put about £600,000 towards this, the city council £35,000 and Cumbria County Council £70,000.

"I'm not against the track, I'm a member of British Cycling and it's good for the city. But we're getting close to £1m and we really don't know how much it's going to cost in total."

Colin Glover, leader of the city council, said: "The track was subject to testing and when that was undertaken, part of it did not pass a load-bearing test.

"As a result, important remediation work was required. I'm not quite sure why Conservative councillors are questioning the decision, because without undertaking that work then you're left with a problem - you've got a half-completed track."

With regards to the work currently taking place, Darren Crossley, deputy chief executive of the city council, said: "It is quite a challenging site. Because of the quality of the ground conditions and the materials.

“Over decades, that part of Harraby has been very wet and the primary school and community centre underwent fairly significant drainage and improvements to it to make good on the site.

"That construction also left significant spoil heaps about the site to be redistributed, incorporated where appropriate or left out.

“And in essence, that’s the nub of the problems. What we were faced with in August, with that decision notice, were some problems to overcome with requirement for extra expenditure.

“We’re the accountable body, which means we carry the responsibility for risks for the project and for managing the payments.”

Gavin Capstick, contracts and community services manager at the council, has written to residents living near the site to explain what work is now being undertaken - and to explain why the project has been delayed.

He said: “In layman’s terms, you re-level the ground and get the ground to the levels that you want. You lay out the track and roll earth into the shape and formation and to the correct levels.

“And then you build up from there with a geo-textile layer - a separating layer of material.

Then there’s 200ml of sub-base stone. That’s rolled to specification and at that point the process pauses while you undertake CBR (California bearing ratio) and it’s to test the load-bearing capacity of the stone and soil that you’re about to lay tarmac on top of.

A couple of sections of the track, when we completed the CBR testing, came in lower than the acceptable levels.

“That causes us problems. Bizarrely enough, not as a cycle track because cyclists could ride round there and there wouldn’t be any difficulty at all. The difficulty is that you can’t lay tarmac on it without bringing tarmac wagons onto site.”