Rossendale aims for 2027 finish on £8m roadworks

A series of design amendments has delayed the Lancashire authority’s Rawtenstall South Gyratory project by more than a year.

Rossendale Council is working alongside Lancashire County Council on the project, which formed part of the local authority’s successful £17m Levelling Up Fund bid. It is set to include resurfacing and widening of the existing carriageway, landscape works, upgraded traffic signalling, and improved pedestrian access and safety.

Initial designs were approved in January; however, the council has now embarked on a rethink. This was triggered by conversations with local stakeholders – namely United Utilities.

Further investigation has proven that it will be more costly than expected to divert the United Utilities mains that currently occupy a part of the gyratory site, according to the council’s programme manager, MAKE. The consultant, who is working with project manager Gosling Consulting, explained that this was largely due to the need to have multiple temple diversions throughout the roadworks period.

“Diversions and works were impractical and unviable due to the sizes and depths,” MAKE director Patrick Hickey told Place North West. “Also, proximity to the fire station access location was an issue, along with general traffic disruption being significant.”

The new design avoids the United Utilities mains, instead changing it so there is a longer merger onto the A682 for the road.

“The proposed amendments are technical in nature and do not alter the fundamental objectives or scope of the project,” a council report stated. “Lancashire County Council has completed the modelling and has confirmed this.”

The report added that the changes are necessary for the scheme to be delivered within its proposed £8.2m budget.

However, this revised design has set the whole project back. In January, it had been presumed that work would be able to commence in March 2025 and complete in April 2026.

The new timeline calls for procurement for a contractor to begin this September, with construction starting in February 2026 and finishing in March 2027.

The Rawtenstall project is not the only Levelling Up fund scheme to encounter delays. A recent study published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government found that 95% of Levelling Up Fund projects the department had data on were behind schedule.