Busy road forced to shut as Victorian sewer collapses beneath Tarmac

A road in Oldham will be closed for the rest of the month after a sinkhole opened up two weeks ago.

Part of Park Road in Glodwick caved in due to a collapsed sewer main on June 27.  

Oldham Council has been informed that United Utilities ‘need more time’ for the repairs as the damage ‘is more extensive than originally thought’. 

A United Utilities spokesperson said: “Work is continuing on Park Road, Oldham and we anticipate that the investigations and repair will be completed by July 31, 2024.

"Traffic management is in place between the junction of Thornton Street and Landseer Street.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

Works are currently underway, with a large digger and barriers present around the large hole near the entrance to Alexandra Park. 

An Oldham council announcement stated that the local authority is ‘working with United Utilities to get the work completed as soon as possible’ and apologised for ‘any inconvenience’. 

A post on X read: “We kindly ask residents and motorists to use alternative routes while United Utilities undertake these urgent repairs.” 

Motorists can avoid the stretch of highway using Queens Rd or Woodstock Street and Waterloo Street. 

Another closure is in place on Thompson Lane in Chadderton, where motorists are being diverted due to subsidence in the middle of the road.

The sinking tarmac was initially thought to be as a result of another collapsed pipe but United Utilties have handed the case back to Oldham Council’s highways department after discovering the damage ‘wasn’t related to their assets’. 

A council spokesperson has said the road remains closed and staff are working to establish the cause of the subsidence as quickly as possible and are ‘treating the job as a priority’. 

The road is shut from the junction at Eaves Lane and Fields New Road.

Motorists are being redirected along Raven Lane and Cotswold Avenue, then back onto Fields New Road or up to Eaves Lane via Denton Lane.

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