Town’s busiest road set to close for 11 nights - AGAIN

Motorists in Oldham could face delays as one of the town’s busiest roads is set to close for 11 nights.

The Oldham Way will be closed in both directions from today (Monday, September 9) to Thursday, September 20. 

The closure is for drainage and remedial works taking place on Waterloo Street Bridge, which crosses the main road.

EON street lighting will also use the time to carry out ‘essential maintenance works’ on street lamps, according to the council. 

A spokesperson for Oldham Council said: “We apologise in advance, but by carrying out the work when traffic is at its lowest levels we hope to keep disruption to a minimum.

"The full closure is needed so we can safely carry out drainage work on Waterloo Street Bridge and also complete remedial work.

“Signposted diversions will be in place.” 

The closures will take place between 8pm and 5am from Manchester Road roundabout to the junction of Prince Street and Oldham Way. 

The works are part of an ongoing project to ‘future proof’ Oldham’s highways – and is the latest in a series of closures that have frustrated motorists for more than two years.

Oldham Council previously told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the works were one of ‘the biggest and most complex highways maintenance projects the council has worked on’ and that progress had been delayed by ‘unexpected complications’. 

Works to improve Waterloo Street Bridge has been prolonged since maintenance works uncovered deeper structural problems.

A recent Freedom of Information request by the LDRS revealed that almost £3.3m has been spent on fixing bridges on the Oldham Way so far. 

The closure also comes just as Oldham is expecting increased traffic from the closure of the M62 this weekend.

The Rochdale stretch of the motorway will be closed off between junction 18 and 20, with eastbound diversions running through Oldham on the A663 trunk road. 

Oldham’s highways and transport councillor Chris Goodwin warned the diversion could have a ‘knock-on effect on traffic in the area’ and told motorists to ‘allow extra time for travel’.

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