Major road in Northampton STILL closed as 'number of issues to be resolved', say developers and council

A major road in Northampton is STILL closed as “there are a number of issues to resolve”, says the council and developers following a private meeting.

Sandy Lane, which sits between Duston and Harpole, has been closed to thousands of motorists since June 2023 for reconstruction works as part of wider plans to build hundreds of new homes in the area.

The road was initially scheduled to reopen on April 1, but it is now April 26 and the road remains closed.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) had a meeting with developers of the Sandy Lane ‘Relief Road’ – Vistry Group and Miller Homes – on Wednesday (April 24).

Following the meeting, this newspaper asked all three parties to comment on what the issues with the road and if there was a new reopening date in mind.

All three parties provided identical responses saying that “there are a number of issues to resolve” without mentioning specifics or a planned reopening date.

WNC’s man in charge of highways, councillor Phil Larratt, previously said: "We’ve been working as hard as we can to try and provide a temporary solution, to get the road open or at least partially open, but unauthorised work by the developers has made this difficult to achieve.”

No party has confirmed to this newspaper what the unauthorised works are so we went to the owner of Sandy Lane Plants, Cheryl Barnett, for clues.

Mrs Barnett, whose business sits in Sandy Lane and has been badly affected by the construction chaos, told this newspaper she believes the road reopening has been delayed because of an “adverse camber and a blind driveway”. No party has confirmed this.

On March 26, developers Miller Homes said the road was due to reopen via temporary link this month (April) however, this has not yet materialised.

On April 11, a WNC spokesman said: “We anticipate that a permanent link will be opened between Sandy Lane Relief Road and Sandy Lane by early summer. This is already under construction and once complete would allow the temporary link to be closed.”

However, according to road data website One Network, Sandy Lane is reportedly set to reopen on May 31. WNC has been asked if this is correct but has not confirmed.

Drone footage from Duston resident Clare Malings shows the current state of the road, which can be viewed within this story and shows the reported dangerous driveway, adverse camber and the controversial southern section of the road.

Here are the identical statements from all three parties provided to this newspaper following their latest meeting.

WNC said: “Vistry South Central Midlands, Miller Homes and West Northamptonshire Council met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the progress of Sandy Lane Relief Road and how a route from Berrywood Lane to the A4500 can be reopened to traffic as soon as possible.

“There are a number of issues to resolve and we will continue to meet regularly and provide shared updates.”

Vistry Group said: “Vistry South Central Midlands, Miller Homes and West Northamptonshire Council met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the progress of Sandy Lane Relief Road and how a route from Berrywood Lane to the A4500 can be reopened to traffic as soon as possible. “There are a number of issues to resolve and we will continue to meet regularly and provide shared updates.”

Miller Homes said: “Vistry South Central Midlands, Miller Homes and West Northamptonshire Council met on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the progress of Sandy Lane Relief Road and how a route from Berrywood Lane to the A4500 can be reopened to traffic as soon as possible. There are a number of issues to resolve and we will continue to meet regularly and provide shared updates on West Northamptonshire Council’s website.”