Thousands of motorists affected by two sets of major roadworks on adjoining busy roads in Northampton - here's when they end

Thousands of motorists are being affected by major roadworks taking place at the same time on two busy adjoining roads in Northampton.

Berrywood Road and New Sandy Lane in Duston are both currently under construction and will continue to be for weeks, causing traffic delays in the area, according to roadworks.org.

New Sandy Lane, a popular shortcut, has had temporary traffic lights installed since June, which will continue until October 28 while workers amend the road to accommodate the new 430-home Harlestone Park development.

Berrywood Road, one of the main routes through Duston, has been closed between Sandy Lane and Griffiths Close since August 18 and will stay closed until September 21 as part of Anglian Water works.

However, questions have been asked on community Facebook page Spotted Duston about the timing of the works and the potential impact of Duston School students returning in September.

West Northamptonshire Council was asked by Chronicle & Echo why the green light was given for the works to happen simultaneously and if it would like to comment on the potential for traffic chaos as students return to school.

Fiona Unett, WNC’s Assistant Director for highways and waste, said: “The council is keen to support growth and businesses want to locate themselves in West Northants, people want to live here, and builders want to provide them with houses.

"These two junctions must be improved to sustain that expansion and we have to accept there will be some disruption.

"It’s the job of the council to minimise that disruption and we have two choices: try to maximise the amount of works to minimise the duration of the impact or only allow works one and at time and allow the impact to be spread over a much longer period of time.

"With the amount of development that is taking place in this area, there is a lot of work that is required and unfortunately, we accept that this will result in some disruption and apologise for any inconvenience it causes.”

Construction work began at the nearby Harlestone Park housing estate in June of this year.

A Bloor Homes spokeswoman said there will be 430 homes in total once the site is complete and will comprise a mix of two, three, four and five-bedroom properties. The estate will also have a primary school and a centre to include local retail and community facilities.

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