A major project to dual the A500 single carriageway between Crewe will start in 2020 after it was given planning approval, writes Stephen Topping.
The £55 million project has been unanimously approved by Cheshire East Council’s strategic planning board at a meeting yesterday (December 19).
It means the 3.3km stretch of the road between junction 16 of the M6 and Meremoss roundabout will become a dual carriageway, easing the regular bottleneck and queues it currently suffers.
Cllr Steve Hogben, Labour member for Crewe South, suggested that the project has European importance.
“This is a scheme that has been a long time coming,” he said.
“The point was often made that coming from Felixstowe, the first single-carriageway track on the way to Holyhead was this piece of road – so it has strategic importance.
“We have talked about the idea of encouraging development south of Crewe for many years.
“I certainly welcome the fact that this is finally due to come about, and it is going to come about in my lifetime.”
Dan Teasdale, project manager, told the committee that the scheme would ‘futureproof the road network’ – improving safety and reliability on the A500.
Planning officers had recommended the scheme for approval before the meeting, stating that although the road is in greenbelt land, the scheme has ‘significant benefits’ that outweigh any harm.
Cllr Peter Groves, Conservative member for Nantwich South and Stapeley, said he “very much welcomes” the scheme as a way of improving journeys from his ward to the M6.
But he echoed concerns from his fellow party member Cllr Steve Edgar, who called for weight restrictions on nearby Snake Lane, Main Road and Radway Green Road in a bid to stop lorry drivers diverting through villages including Weston while construction takes place.
“Some of these HGV drivers are so reliant on satnavs and they don’t know the actual area,” he added.
Officers agreed to road restrictions, while two bridges need to be widened on the A500 as part of the scheme and landscaping work will take place to mitigate the environmental impact of the road’s widening.
One per cent of the road sits in Newcastle-under-Lyme, but the borough council agreed to pass all responsibility for planning permission onto Cheshire East Council and raised no objections to the scheme.
As part of the scheme, CEC will pay £32,144.86 payment towards creating new wildlife habitats to further mitigate the environmental impact of the widened A500.
Steve hogbens comments imply that the main route from felixstow to holyhead is via the a500, it is not. The Nantwich bypass is very busy now at most times of day, and that will be the first singlecarriageway road once this dualling is carried out. It will only encourage more traffic to come this way – why would we in Nantwich want that?