'No update' on opening date of new £54.5m Northampton relief road two months after completion
An opening date for a long-awaited 'relief road' set to open in Northampton is not yet confirmed, two month after it was completed by developers.
The £54.5 million North West Relief Road (NWRR) is still closed and West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has not issued any update since it was completed at the end of August.
Work started during the Conservative administration at WNC, before Reform gained control of the council earlier this year.
Following numerous questions from readers, the Chron approached WNC for an update on the road opening and we were told that when there was an update we would be notified.
It is a situation similar to the Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR), which opened nine weeks later than planned on August 12. At the time, WNC gave no updates during the delay and later said extra safety work was the reason for the hold-up.
The assumption is that the same applies for the NWRR.
Changes were made to the SLRR after it opened following safety concerns raised by Chron readers.
Housebuilder Persimmon Homes has confirmed that work on the final stretch of the NWRR, which runs from York Way to the railway line, was signed off at the end of August.
The council delivered the bridge over the railway line, completed in July 2024.
Persimmon has now completed the last section this month.
The scheme has faced criticism. Campaigners objected to the felling of 1,800 trees at Harlestone Firs, though developers and the Althorp Estate say 8,000 trees and shrubs have been replanted. The road is also linked to 3,000 new homes planned for Dallington Fields, which drew hundreds of objections when first put forward.
A spokesperson for the Conservative administration at the time said the road would create “an unbroken link across the western side of Northampton” and ease traffic. But critics, such as ex-councillor Sam Rumens, believe it is “just an access road for housing.”