The first major step in the delivery of the South Heywood Masterplan saw the opening of a new 2.2km motorway link road.
The Mayor of Rochdale and Leader of Rochdale Borough Council – were among those attending the official opening of the new A6184, connecting junction 19 of the M62 with Pilsworth Road in Heywood, alongside representatives from Russells and other public and private sector partners.
The road opened to the public today and will be a catalyst for the local economy as the increased connectivity makes the area more attractive to investors and supports existing employment.
It is the first completed element of the wider 316-acre South Heywood Masterplan which is being brought forward by Russells.
This supports the development of our 1.88million sq ft logistics and manufacturing site, HPARK, located off the new link road. This is set to be launched in the new year and has the potential to create up to 2,800 new jobs. With this, unlocks the opportunity for 1,000 new homes, a local centre with a primary school, park, retail and sports facilities.
Russell Homes, Bellway and Anwyl are all progressing residential developments within the wider masterplan and the construction of the first homes in the new West Hopwood community has recently commenced.
The Russell LDP team has been working on the masterplan for over a decade, bringing together the land, funding, public and private sector partnerships needed to deliver the programme over a 20-year period.
Joint Managing Director, Gareth Russell, said: “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. It is the key to unlocking the economic potential of South Heywood, making the location more accessible and attractive for business to invest and bring new jobs to the area. It will also 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.”
Russells Director, Daniel Kershaw, added: “To see the link road finally operational after 12 years of working on the project is extremely rewarding. Russells and Rochdale Borough Council have worked together on this as a collaboration. The public/private partnership has enabled us to deliver something that is genuinely beneficial to the local area, not just for the future development that we are bringing forward, but for existing businesses, this is transformational. Thank you to colleagues, the council, Rochdale Development Agency and council members for their support and the vision they had for backing this for the last decade. This is game-changing for this area, so a huge congratulations to all involved.”
Russells representatives (L-R) Gareth Street, Gareth Russell, Gary Lynch and Daniel Kershaw
The road was built with over £20million public and private sector funding and is set to benefit local residents and businesses. The new route means vehicles will no longer have to divert to the M66 motorway via smaller local roads, reducing journey lengths by tens of thousands of miles every year. Over a 60-year period this equates to £156million combined savings from reduced journeys and £25million less in operating costs. It will remove up to 35,770 heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) journeys every year and reduce carbon emissions by immediately reducing journeys by 267,000 hours a year.
Cabinet member for Highways and Housing for Rochdale Borough Council, Councillor Daniel Meredith, said: “The opening of the new link road gives an opportunity to alleviate the congestion and reduce journeys by creating a more efficient route. It should lead to vehicles no longer relying on the town centre to navigate their journeys, creating a better environment for residents as the local roads become less busy.”
Rochdale’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration, Councillor John Blundell, said: “We can now realise the development of new business space and create new jobs while at the same time giving existing businesses the opportunity to reinvest instead of wasting money on high transport costs. This will foster business competitiveness and growth and unlock new economic opportunities.”
National Highways Head of Planning and Development in the North West, Bruce Parker, said: “We’re delighted to celebrate the opening of the new link. It will support improved journeys to and from the M62 and is already unlocking the potential for new businesses, hundreds of extra jobs and more homes in the vicinity of the motorway. The project is a great example of the partnership working National Highways has been supporting right across the North West from our Growth and Housing Fund and we’ve made a significant, £1.5 million contribution to the construction costs of this new link road.”
The junction with Manchester Road showing the left turn into Queen Elizabeth II Way
Leader of Rochdale Borough Council, Councillor Neil Emmott, 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.”
Hopwood Hall ward councillor Peter Hodgkinson said: “We get very heavy traffic currently going through the town centre. The road will alleviate that problem and reduce HGV traffic from all the local roads which is very welcome for the residents of this area.”
Rochdale Borough Council has applied to name the new link road, ‘Queen Elizabath II Way’ in honour of the late head of state.