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Main road will close for six weeks

9:44am Saturday 8th March 2008

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ONE of the busiest roads in Westhoughton is to be closed for six weeks so a gas pipe can be replaced.

Part of Leigh Road -between Daisy Hill railway station and the roundabout at Hartford Road - will be shut to allow National Grid to carry out essential maintenance work.

The road closure is pencilled in for the school summer holidays - between July 21 and August 29.

The gas company needs to replace a cast iron pipe which runs along Leigh Road and Lower Leigh Road with a plastic pipe.

A diversion route has been provisionally agreed, which will take drivers through Atherton.

A spokesman for National Grid said it needed to replace 1.8km of metal gas pipe in Leigh Road, Lower Leigh Road and Schofield Lane.

The company expects work on the entire project to start in early June and last until November.

Local councillors have expressed their concerns. Westhoughton South councillor, David Wilkinson, said: "This closure will mean there is only one point of access for the thousands of residents in Daisy Hill, via Wearish Lane. This will cause congestion at the Wearish Lane traffic lights as well as others in the town centre.

"I am also concerned about buses as this is the main Bolton to Wigan route for the 540 service which runs every 10 minutes.

"Residents along the strip that is due to be closed have to park their cars along the road."


Your Say YourThe Bolton News

howfenguy, westhoughton says...
10:00am Sat 8 Mar 08

****,the best kept secret will be out! drivers will now realise that the 'new road'linking atherleigh way to platt lane is now open, and has been for a while now.much quicker & more direct than travelling leigh rd through daisy hill.****,****,****!

Dave, Westhoughton says...
12:01pm Sat 8 Mar 08

I have only been up that route once, wasnt useful to me, but then again i live around the Hindleys and Clough Farm area, so to get to Legh i would have to use Leigh Rd, whilst the works are on i suppose every bugger will be using the Washacre estate to get around now!

As for the 540, it has to be affected, thats its main route, so the diversion looks like its going to go around Daisy Hill, double back on itself to Wearish Lane, up Wearish lane to Southfield Drive, round the estate (Southfield, Washacre, Townsfield, Birch Rd, back up Southfield) going out where it came in and back to normal route and reverse back to Wigan ..

This is going to be fun ....Especially with the kids playing out in the estate in the summer holidays ..

Or are the council going to allow everyone to use it as a cut-through and then when everyone has accidents and people get hurt, use it as an excuse to put up chicanes and speed ramps around the etsate?!

Im going to stop now, im being too cynical!

scottiedoo, Westhoughton says...
12:13pm Sat 8 Mar 08

It's great that Westhoughton's utilities are being upgraded and I congratulate the companies involved for thinking about commuters and doing it in the summer holidays.
However, the council really needs to get a grip and realise this town can only deal with so much...two roads in (Church Street and Park Road) and two roads out (Hindley Road and Leigh Road) plus a whopping rail line splitting the town in two make it a congestion time bomb that cannot be avoided unless all the bricks and mortar are removed!
Roadworks here are an absolute nightmare.
The 'foregone conclusion' about Sainsbury's, whether it's unpopular or not will turn Westhoughton into a massive muddy bottle-neck. The proposed construction of the supermarket is extremely unpopular and it seems that the company feels it can plonk a whopping great store anywhere it likes.
Hundreds of new houses off Leigh Road will strangle the town's amenities and roadways.
All-in-all, we should stand-by for being traffic-jammed in a muddy mess for the foreseeable future.

tosh, says...
4:44pm Sat 8 Mar 08

scottiedoo wrote:
It's great that Westhoughton's utilities are being upgraded and I congratulate the companies involved for thinking about commuters and doing it in the summer holidays. However, the council really needs to get a grip and realise this town can only deal with so much...two roads in (Church Street and Park Road) and two roads out (Hindley Road and Leigh Road) plus a whopping rail line splitting the town in two make it a congestion time bomb that cannot be avoided unless all the bricks and mortar are removed! Roadworks here are an absolute nightmare. The 'foregone conclusion' about Sainsbury's, whether it's unpopular or not will turn Westhoughton into a massive muddy bottle-neck. The proposed construction of the supermarket is extremely unpopular and it seems that the company feels it can plonk a whopping great store anywhere it likes. Hundreds of new houses off Leigh Road will strangle the town's amenities and roadways. All-in-all, we should stand-by for being traffic-jammed in a muddy mess for the foreseeable future.
Plus 57 new flats at the Greenfield site WHOOPEEDOO!

whitehowfan, Howfan says...
8:38pm Sat 8 Mar 08

If you don't like it scootiedoo why don't you pack up and move. Westhoughton is a small town we have four roads to get in and out, its just the norm for atown of our size. Most people i have spoken to as regards the super market are all for it 80%, (a lot of the pensioners i spoke to say it should have been a lidl, aldi, or a netto these people do have a voice). As regards all the new houses and flats being built this is the price we have to pay for living in a nice area. Ps before i go does anybody know anything on the 67 year old drug dealer, 67 what! how can he or she explain that one to the gran kids?

spice, bolton says...
10:11am Sun 9 Mar 08

Living in a nice area.who are you kidding.

whitehowfan, Howfan says...
6:40pm Wed 12 Mar 08

spice wrote:
Living in a nice area.who are you kidding.
Why whats wrong with it spice, your not 67 and from around the area and in trouble with the police are you. Psss what were your prices?

sawtyed off it, westhoughton says...
11:23am Tue 1 Jul 08

Strange how the gas company doesn't seem to be able to leave the gas mains alone. A couple of years ago, all leigh road was uprooted and huge yellow plastic pipes were inserted, and the road was re-surfaced again. Also what will happen with the 615/516 bus route which i use to get to and from work in Leigh. The route goes straight down Leigh road and down to the Masons arms pub at the top of schofield lane then turns left towards Astley and works back towards Leigh.

Where is that bus route going to divert to? easily accessible i hope!

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