Work to start on Mottram Bypass next year

After more than 50 years in gestation, National Highways and main contractor Balfour Beatty are gearing up to commence construction on two link roads to help alleviate congestion on the Manchester to Sheffield route.

The road to get to this point has been long and full of obstacles. The Mottram Bypass was first floated in the 1970s. It was the subject of two consultations, one in 2017 and the other in 2020.

The finalised project is known as the A57 Link Roads project. It includes the creation of two link roads: the dual carriageway Mottram Moor Link Road, which will connect Junction 4 of the M67 with a new junction on the A57 at Mottram Moor, and the single carriageway A57 Link Road, which will link from that A57 Mottram Moor junction to a new junction on the A57 at Woolley Bridge.

After getting a development consent order in 2022, the project underwent a legal challenge regarding its cumulative carbon assessment and impact the scheme would have on Green Belt. Both of those issues were dismissed in February of this year.

And now work can finally get going. National Highways issued an update on the project stating that it was setting up the site compound for the construction works this summer, with main construction to begin in early 2025.

The National Highways team is holding a series of open meetings to discuss the plans and the work this month. You can find information for each below:

• 24 July, 2pm-7pm: The Community Room at St Mary’s Church, Market Street, Hollingworth
• 25 July, 3pm-6pm: Round Table Hall at Bradbury Community Hall, Market Street, Glossop
• 27 July, 10am-2pm: The Community Room at St Mary’s Church, Market Street, Hollingworth