'Council officials now see Northampton relief road would be disastrous,' say residents

Campaigners for improvements to the North West Relief Road plan are optimistic they have made a breakthrough with Northampton Borough Council.
Kingsthorpe trafficKingsthorpe traffic
Kingsthorpe traffic

Delegates from Whitehills and Spring Park Residents' Association (WASPRA) met officials from both the county and borough council in order to convince the authorities that traffic will increase to intolerable levels if the current proposals are approved.

WASPRA believes the county council's own data shows general traffic in the Kingsthorpe area will increase by up to 87 per cent.

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A spokesman for the residents' association said Guildhall representatives seemed persuaded by their arguments.

He said: "NBC promised during the meeting to take away and analyse the figures provided by us. They considered them to be highly concerning and quite an eye-opener."

The borough council will now look at the numbers in detail before giving feedback to WASPRA.

Guildhall officials rejected the idea of a scrutiny panel, but indicated they would begin to consult with specialists such as the Road Haulage Association, the emergency services and the Northampton forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport.

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Sean Brady, co-chair of WASPRA, said: “We are, following this meeting, cautiously optimistic that finally the necessary council representatives have recognised the severity of our concerns regarding the NWRR impact.

"We hope that if the analysis by NBC regarding our figures brings them to the same conclusions as us – that the road (NWRR) will be disastrous for Kingsthorpe North in no uncertain terms – that necessary actions will be taken to avoid this potential nightmare for traffic in the area, and that an alternative option can be identified.

"Northampton is overdue a completed dual carriageway orbital road from the A45 south of Junction 16 of the M1 and the A43 near Sywell“.