The next phase of a major link road near Warrington is set to start, with work expected to be completed by late spring next year. The new route in Newton-le-Willows forms part of the ambitious Parkside development, which will be bringing jobs and investment to the area.
The link road will connect the derelict Parkside site – a former colliery – to J22 of the M6 motorway, taking goods traffic away from nearby roads such as the A49, deisgned to reduce the impact on residential roads and improve the local environment. Since the project started in January 2022, work has already been completed on sections of carriageway, footway, drainage, and street lighting from Winwick Lane through to Parkside Road and Parkside Road heading west towards the A49 Winwick Road.
Drivers have been warned that a series of temporary traffic light signals will be in place on the A49 Winwick Road over the next few months, starting tomorrow, Wednesday, July 12. This will run until November and may impact journey times.
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There are also two weekend closures planned for August 12 to 13 and August 19 to 20. This is so that work can be completed safely to construct parts of the permanent junction.
Cllr Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, deputy leader of St Helens Council and cabinet member for strategic transport, said: “Parkside will bring huge levels of investment into our borough, together with a wealth of jobs for our residents to benefit from and the link road will deliver this while reducing the impact on the Newton-le-Willows community by taking traffic to the site away from our local roads.
“Work is progressing well and to see the difference over the last year of construction is amazing, with the road clearly advancing so that it will be ready to serve the Parkside development in the future. As we head into the next stage to build the junction entrance, traffic management such as temporary traffic signals, and road closures is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of workers and road users alike, but we’ll look to keep disruption to a minimum.
“The long-term benefits certainly outweigh short-term inconveniences as we strive to unlock the huge potential of the wider site which has lay derelict for too long – bringing much needed jobs to the area – and capitalise on the site’s unique rail freight positioning to encourage sustainable industry. We’ve listened to local residents, and so any closures will only take place overnight or at weekends and the A49 and Parkside Road won’t be closed at the same time.
“The works will also mostly take place over the summer holidays to avoid clashes with school traffic. We thank local residents groups for their input on these reasonable requests.”
The link road is expected to be completed by late spring 2024.
