Road schemes secure funding

Highways projects in Wigan and Cumbria have been included in a £67m programme of road upgrades announced by the Government to unlock housing and employment.

The £23.6m M58 link road project in Wigan is designed to improve accessibility to key sites and reduce congestion on the A577 Ormskirk Road. The scheme will connect to the Pemberton Business Park development site and 250 new homes, and support the delivery of a further 170 homes and 2,600 jobs at the neighbouring Bell site.

The single carriageway road will connect the junction of the M58 and M6 through to Billinge Road and onto Pemberton Park, where it will connect to the existing roundabout at Smithy Brook Road.

The scheme will be funded by £5m from the Growth & Housing Fund, a contribution from Wigan Council, £10.9m from the Greater Manchester growth deal and £3.1m provided by private developers. The road is expected to be open to traffic during winter 2020. Wigan also plans to build a new section of the A49 to aid access into the town from the south, re-tendering the project in 2017.

In Cumbria, the A590 Cross-a-Moor scheme will see an upgrade of the existing junction at Cross-a-Moor into a four-arm roundabout which will provide a number of key local development sites with direct access to the A590 trunk road.

The £5.05m scheme has been allocated £3.05m from the Growth & Housing Fund and £2.03m in third party match funding which will include £1.73m of private funding and a contribution from South Lakeland District Council.

The scheme will also unlock 106 local homes, and three further sites with the potential to deliver 895 homes in the future.

Jim O’Sullivan, Highways England chief executive, said: “Each of these improvements will ensure England’s strategic road network continues to make a valuable contribution to the prosperity of our country.

“We will continue to use our Growth & Housing Fund, working with a range of local stakeholders to unlock further development sites around the country.”

The £100m fund was set up as part of the gGvernment’s £15bn investment in roads and provides financial contributions towards schemes that support new jobs and housing.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: “Transport investment is crucial to a strong and resilient economy – that’s why we are making the biggest investment in roads in a generation, spending £23bn across the country to improve journeys for motorists.

“These upgrades from Highways England will benefit the regions, giving a boost to businesses and better access to the jobs and homes that people want.”