Crucial Horwich Loco Works ‘spine road’ nears completion

The Horwich[1] Loco Works spine road has been in the pipeline since 2018 and is intended to provide crucial relief to highly congested roads where around 1000 new homes will be built. Bolton[2] West MP Chris Green says he believes that it will be completed in a matter of months. He said: "It should be completed in August, but it may take a little longer after that for it to be open to the public.

He added: "The spine road will make a huge difference to local residents, but it will also make a huge difference to people coming to live on the new estate. An artist's impression of some of the completed homes (Image: Bellway Homes) "It will also be a useful through road for Horwich residents to more easily get onto the motorway and so divert traffic away from the Beehive Roundabout, which has been a huge source of local concern about congestion."

The new road is intended to cut traffic on Chorley New Road as well as at the Beehive Roundabout and is being built as part of the Horwich Loco Works project. The major new housing estate will be built on what was once a historic engineering and manufacturing site stretching back to the 19th century until its closure in 1983. The current phase of the 1000 home project[3] was approved back in 2021, but has sparked concerns about traffic ever since.

ALSO READ: New spine road to cut traffic on major route to be finished 'in a few months time'[4] ALSO READ: New Horwich Loco Works homes and spine road passed[5] ALSO READ: 'Progress made' on scheme for more than 1,000 new houses[6]

In 2018 the then secretary of state for housing, communities and local government visited the site[7] and agreed to the GBP12M funding for the new spine road[8]. Cllr David Grant, of Horwich South and Blackrod, said that his party, which was still a community group at the time, invited Mr Green and Mr Javid to see the site for themselves. He said: "At our request, Chris Green facilitated Sajid Javid coming up and that's when he agreed to funding for the road.

"It's just taken a lot longer and cost a lot more than we'd originally anticipated."

He added: "It's almost broken through now at Station Road and at the other end."

References

1. ^ Horwich (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
2. ^ Bolton (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
3. ^ project (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
4. ^ ALSO READ: New spine road to cut traffic on major route to be finished 'in a few months time' (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
5. ^ ALSO READ: New Horwich Loco Works homes and spine road passed (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
6. ^ ALSO READ: 'Progress made' on scheme for more than 1,000 new houses (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
7. ^ site (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)
8. ^ spine road (www.theboltonnews.co.uk)