Heywood’s £20m link road opens
Joining Junction 19 of the M62 with Pilsworth Road, the 2.2km connection is a key part of Russells’ £400m South Heywood masterplan.
The link road is designed to help heavy goods vehicles bypass Heywood Town Centre on their way to various logistics parks in South Heywood. By reducing journey lengths, property and construction group Russells estimates the road could generate £156m in combined savings over the course of 60 years.
Russells worked alongside Rochdale Council, National Highways, Rochdale Development Agency, Transport for Greater Manchester, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver the road. Walker Sime was the project manager and cost manager for Rochdale Council on the scheme. Civils contractor Sisk built the road, which opened to the public on 3 November.
More than £20m in private and public sector funding was required for the creation of the link road. The road will also be instrumental in encouraging investment and innovation at the Atom Valley mayoral development zone, according to the local authority.
Rochdale Council said that it has applied to name the road Queen Elizabeth II Way.
The road is the first part of the 316-acre South Heywood masterplan to complete Russells’ vision for the Rochdale community features more than 1.45m sq ft of employment space, a primary school, a village retail centre, parks, and 1,000 homes.
Bellway and Anwyl are working alongside Russell Homes on delivering the homes, with work having already started on the first dwellings.
“The opening of the link road is a milestone for everyone involved in the delivery of this transformative economic regeneration scheme, and is a testament to what partnership working can achieve.” said Gareth Russell, joint managing director of Russells.
Russell continued: “It is the key to unlocking the economic potential of South Heywood, making the location more accessible and attractive for businesses to invest and bring new jobs to the area, and will help reduce carbon emissions in the borough by immediately removing hundreds of thousands of hours of travel, something which will benefit residents and businesses alike.”
Cllr Neil Emmott, Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Realising this project is the culmination of many years’ work, not only by the council and ward councillors, but equally by our valued partners with whom we have all worked tirelessly together.
“It delivers good value in how it will reduce costs for the residents of Heywood and businesses through being able to travel fewer miles, and provides an excellent service in the way that it will transform Heywood’s road network.”
It’ll be clogged up by next week and then they’ll be asking for one more lane bro. And so it continues until the entire nation is paved over with tarmac and guardrails.
By Anonymous
There is no question to which more road space is a good answer.
By and by
Why not name the road after some body who devoted their life to Rochdale?
By James Yates
Lisa Stansfield Way
By @ James Yates
Should use rail link at Castleton and also this link road could have been built from J3 M66, why carve up the countryside?
By Anonymous
That link road looks a good idea to relive the pressure points of the roads around Heywood but the houses and industrial units will defeat the object, Heywood will become gridlocked with thousands of extra cars once all them houses are built
By Andy
Nice to see all these positive comments!
By Anonymous
And it’s all been built on green belt land….
By RH
This will only encourage car dependency, when are Rochdale going to properly invest in walking, cycling and public transport schemes?
By Anonymous
Pity it’s torn through green belt and countryside
By Anonymous
So much for saving the environment, all the wild life and heywood is a poor area? What’s going on .
By Mary
Where is the infrastructure. No Doctors potholed roads. And as usual with Rochdale no communication with local people
By Disenchanted
Great for Heywood diverting all the HGV,s else where, all of you who haven’t been thru Heywood try it now their is no heavy vehicles going thru what a differance.
By Anonymous
Utter waste time and money that could have been spent on better things
By Anonymous
The road seems to be working well already – so many fewer HGVs in Heywood!
By Anonymous
Poor lane marking which lane to Heywood left or right lane
By John
The route when you come from Middleton to Heywood codnfuses people as to which lane to be in another near accident again on my way back tonight very quiet but a van was in the left lane and tried to get to right lane almost collided with a cr that was in the right hand lane normally if you are in the left lane it goes left or straight on not this set up confuses people
By Tony Thornsby