Frustration over village traffic chaos as roadworks begin on first day of school term

Date published: 08 September 2022

Roadworks which began the day schools went back after the holidays could bring traffic misery to a village for weeks to come, it is feared.

Newhey Road, in Milnrow, is being dug up so work on sewers serving a ‘state-of-the-art’ medical centre currently being built can be completed by a contractor.

The work began on Monday and the road will be closed in both directions for two weeks before temporary traffic lights are installed for a further four weeks.

The closure means traffic coming from Newhey cannot enter Milnrow, instead having to take alternative routes along Elizabethan Way, Bridge Street and Dale Street. Traffic from Milnrow heading out of the village towards Newhey is also being diverted via Elizabethan Way. 

A notice on Rochdale Council’s website says it organised the roadworks – later clarifying this meant it had ‘issued the permit’. However, it denies responsibility for the works, traffic management, insisting this lies with the contractor, which has not been named.

Councillor Andy Kelly, who represents Milnrow and Newhey, says he welcomes the new medical centre, which he says is ‘definitely needed’.

But the Lib Dem group leader hit out at council bosses for issuing the permit for the work. 

“It’s just getting to the point where officers just don’t listen to anything councillors have got to say.

“It’s just the worst planning it possibly could be,” he said. “We said don’t do it, find some other time. They said they can’t leave it until another two-week break as that would be Christmas.”

Councillor Kelly reports that there were tailbacks of around a mile in all four directions yesterday – some longer – and it was taking an hour to get from Newhey Primary School to Littleborough.

“Every single arterial road into Milnrow and Newhey was backed up a mile yesterday. All I have got back is an email back saying ‘sorry, there’s nothing we can do’.

“Other than getting people to take more public transport – which is not necessarily a bad thing – we’re saying to avoid it like the plague because you are going to be delayed.

“It’s not what you want for businesses, it’s not what you want for pubs and shops. It’s hard enough at the minute for people to earn a living and pay their bills.”

Councillor Kelly said he was deeply frustrated as he and his ward councillor colleagues ‘said it would happen and it has’.

“We just need to plan a bit better and get this stuff sorted out,” he said. “There’s no good time to do it, but there’s worse times to do it – and we are having a worse time right now.”

However he urged people not to direct their anger at the medical centre project.

“The bottom line is we need it and the medical centre is a good thing to have because we have so few resources in our ward for a variety of reasons – and this is state-of-the-art.

While some residents were unperturbed and believe the inconvenience is a price worth paying in the long run, others remain unhappy.

Luke Bailey said it took him an hour and 20 to get from the Jubilee pub to Newhey bus terminus. 

“Honestly you literally couldn’t write it could you,” he wrote on Facebook. “Six weeks whilst the kids are off to get it sorted and they start work on the first day kids are back in.

“The mind boggles that they decided the first week in September. I understand it’ll be best to do it then in relation to their construction phase plan, but zero consideration has been made for the effects on the surrounding area in relation to [the] weight of traffic.”

The council has refused to directly respond to Councillor Kelly’s comments.

Nick Statham, Local Democracy Reporter