A MAJOR Lostock road is now open after being closed for almost six months — with more lengthy road closures due in the New Year.

Lostock Lane has been closed to the public since April to allow Network Rail to carry out work on the bridge.

Bolton Council had hoped to announce the re-opening of the bridge back in early October, but the road had to remain closed to allow National Grid to carry out gas works in the area.

The council’s transport boss, Cllr David Chadwick previously said he was “disappointed” that these works could not have been completed during the five months Network Rail were working in the area.

The completion of the bridge work forms part of the Network Rail’s £400 million electrification programme in the North West, and marks the first stage of its rebuilding project across what is known as the Bolton Corridor.

Cllr Chadwick said: “I would like to thank those people who live in or use Lostock Lane for their patience and tolerance while this work was completed.

“Unfortunately there are a lot of people who are going to be affected in similar situations next year in Blackrod, Adlington and Bolton.

“It is an aspiration of many people in Bolton to have electrified trains and we have to go through some pain to get where we want to go with the many benefits of electrification.”

Several bridges across the borough need to be rebuilt to provide sufficient clearance for the new overhead lines that electrification will bring.

The bridges are being rebuilt as "flat-deck highway bridges".

The next project will take place in Blackrod, with one of the village’s key routes, Station Road, set to close for more than four months, from January 30 until June 11.

The project had originally been scheduled to start in May of this year, but Network Rail postponed the plans after hearing concerns from councillors about the width of the bridge and the trouble it has caused for road users.

The firm will now implement a different design that will remove a footbridge next to the bridge and allow the carriageway to be widened.

Following this, the next scheme will see a bridge rebuilt in Grimeford Lane in Adlington — with the road set to close to the public from March 6 until June 11.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “We have worked closely with Bolton Council to minimise the length of the closures and any inevitable overlap.”