Temporary traffic lights and upcoming road closure required for Parkside Link Road project

Article date: 10th July

Parkside Link Road will connect the derelict Parkside site - a former colliery - to J22 of the M6 motorway, taking goods traffic away from nearby roads such as the A49, helping to reduce the impact on residential roads and improve the local environment. 

Since the project started in January 2022, a number of significant works have been completed, including sections of carriageway, footway, drainage, and street lighting from Winwick Lane through to Parkside Road and Parkside Road heading west towards the A49 Winwick Road.  

To enable the next phase to be carried out safely to construct the junction entrance into the new Parkside Link Road development, motorists are advised that a series of temporary traffic light signals will be required on the A49 Winwick Road over the next few months, starting Wednesday 12 Julyuntil November which may impact journey times - with two weekend closures planned for 12-13 August and 19-20 August to safely construct aspects of the permanent junction. 

Councillor Seve Gomez-Aspron MBE, Deputy Leader of St Helens Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, said: "Parkside will bring huge levels of investment into our borough, together with a wealth of jobs for our residents to benefit from and the link road will deliver this while reducing the impact on the Newton-le-Willows community by taking traffic to the site away from our local roads.

"Work is progressing well and to see the difference over the last year of construction is amazing, with the road clearly advancing so that it will be ready to serve the Parkside development in the future.

"As we head into the next stage to build the junction entrance, traffic management such as temporary traffic signals, and road closures is absolutely necessary to ensure the safety of workers and road users alike, but we'll look to keep disruption to a minimum.

"The long-term benefits certainly outweigh short-term inconveniences as we strive to unlock the huge potential of the wider site which has lay derelict for too long - bringing much needed jobs to the area - and capitalise on the site's unique rail freight positioning to encourage sustainable industry.

"We've listened to local residents, and so any closures will only take place overnight or at weekends and the A49 and Parkside Road won't be closed at the same time.

"The works will also mostly take place over the summer holidays to avoid clashes with school traffic.

"We thank local residents groups for their input on these reasonable requests."

Parkside Link Road is expected to be completed by late spring 2024.  

 For more information, visit: www/sthelens.gov.uk/PLR