Final stage of £54.5m Northampton ‘relief’ road complete – but no date yet for full opening
The final section of Northampton’s long-awaited North West Relief Road (NWRR) has now been completed – but mystery remains over when the £54.5 million project will finally open to traffic.
Housebuilder Persimmon Homes has confirmed that work on the final stretch of the North West Relief Road (NWRR) has now finished. The section, which runs from York Way to the railway line, was signed off at the end of August.
Despite this, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has still not said when the whole road will actually open. Chronicle & Echo has asked for a date, but the council has so far not given an answer.
The new road links up with the recently opened Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR), creating a continuous route between the A4500 and Kingsthorpe. Once open, drivers will be able to travel between the SLRR and the NWRR in either direction.
It is a situation similar to the Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR), which opened nine weeks later than planned earlier this month. At the time, WNC gave no updates during the delay and later said extra safety work was the reason for the hold-up.
The NWRR has been years in the making. First approved in 2020, the £54.5 million road runs from the Windhover pub in Kingsthorpe through to New Sandy Lane at Harlestone Firs. Work began in March 2022.
The project has been built in phases:
- Persimmon built the first section from the A428 to a roundabout near Grange Farm.
- 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.”