Sandy Lane Relief Road remains closed this week as new opening date remains under wraps

Frustrations grow as the controversial Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR) is still yet to be opened...days after its targeted completion date.

Half of a brand new relief road is set to open this month (April) to thousands of motorists but the Chron is still unable to say when that exact date is.

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

Developers, Miller Homes, are in the process of building the northern section of the new Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR), which sits parallel to the old Sandy Lane.Miller Homes has revealed the northern section of the road will reopen in April, although an exact reopening date is yet to be confirmed.

West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) highways board said Sandy Lane was going to be closed from June 2023 until March 31 2024.

It was assumed the road would then reopen on April 1 but this has yet to be happen and the site remains closed this week – at the time of publication.

The Chron has put a series of questions to WNC surrounding open dates, delays, planning issues and compensation for affected businesses but the authority has chosen to remain publicly silent to date.

WNC told this newspaper that it was unable to comment at this time but assured it would provide an update when there is further information to share.

Speaking to the Chron this week, Deputy Leader of the Council Cllr Adam Brown (Bugbrooke Ward), said he too could not yet confirm the opening date of the SLRR.

Cllr Brown added: “I have consistently highlighted residents’ concerns to officers, arranged and attended multiple meetings on the issue, and pushed for the swiftest possible resolution to all the difficulties in the area.

"I will continue to do this until all the issues are resolved.”

Frustrated residents have voiced concerns on social media while Duston Parish Council waded into the row this week and said clarity from WNC remains ‘elusive’.

One resident said: “This has gone on long enough, causing major disruption and inconvenience. We need transparency and accountability.”

Another said: “I’ll start charging them for the extra time, fuel and wear and tear before long.”

Duston Parish Council (DPC) said it had received ‘several enquiries regarding the current status of the ongoing works on the Sandy Lane closure’.

A spokesperson for DPC said: “We have contacted West Northamptonshire Council for information, but clarity on the reopening timeline remains elusive.

"We're committed to seeking further clarification and will be sending an email today to pursue this matter. We'll keep you updated as soon as new information becomes available.”

The two businesses in Sandy Lane – Sandy Lane Plants and Threadgold scrap yard – say construction works have severely impacted their livelihoods in the past nine months, and they are now both calling for compensation.

Sandy Lane Plant owners Gary and Cheryl Barnett said: “We're angry. It feels like we're living in a building site. All we've had is nine months of aggro on top of aggro. It’s beyond a joke. I feel we’re going have to put up with this for the next five years.

"WNC should not have given Miller Homes planning permission to close the top of Sandy Lane. They should have left it as a through road because they could have built all the houses behind, made their money to fund the new road, but not close the original Sandy Lane until they'd finished the new Sandy Lane Relief Road and then none of this disruption would have happened.”

Developers told this newspaper that any scenarios around compensation would be down to WNC because they gave the go-ahead to the plans.

With the opening of the northern section of the SLRR just days or weeks away, concerns remain over the southern section – locally known as ‘the road to nowhere’.

Construction of the southern section of the road stopped more than a decade ago when proposals for new homes nearby fell through.

In January 2024, Cllr Brown said the completion of the southern section is contingent upon securing a final section 106 agreement with the landowner.

Harpole Parish Council (HPC) has recently voiced “strong dissatisfaction" with WNC over the ongoing delays surrounding the southern section.

In a letter to Chris Heaton-Harris MP, HPC said it was ‘extremely unhappy’ with how construction is unfolding, saying that in the last six months the village has seen ‘unnecessary and unacceptable traffic volumes’, which would be alleviated by the construction of the southern section of the relief road.

A Miller Homes spokesman said: “We continue to work alongside West Northants Council (WNC) to complete the Norwood Farm section of the Sandy Lane Relief Road (SLRR) and are on track to open the first phase to traffic in April, via a temporary connection to Sandy Lane.

"The multi-million pound SLRR will provide a vastly improved transport infrastructure to the area and whilst we fully understand the short term challenges imposed by the road closures, these are necessary precautions to enable works to be completed safely and deliver long term benefits to the community.”

The Chron will bring you more on the opening date as soon as we have it.