On Friday, I met with Catherine Morris, Chairman of the Towcester Bypass Action Group, to update her and the community on current progress on the early delivery of the Towcester Relief Road.

Persimmon Homes, as the party responsible for the delivery of the Towcester Relief Road (TRR), is making good progress on finalising the designs for the road, including the connecting roundabouts on the A5 and A43, and expects to submit for reserved matters planning consent through South Northants District Council in the first week of February. The road has had outline consent since 2014.

This should allow for Persimmon to start construction on the road ahead of 31st March 2020 which, as you may know, is the deadline imposed by Highways England (HE) to ensure the full £3.897m of funding we secured through the Government’s first 'Road Investment Strategy’ (RIS1) for the TRR’s early delivery is released. We are anticipating the TRR opening fully by the end of 2021 / early 2022, which is substantially sooner than the original forecast of 2027-2030.

Persimmon and HE continue to work on the detailed designs for the connecting roundabout on the A5, as well as for the connecting roundabout on the A43. Given these link onto HE’s Strategic Road Network, the designs are highly specific and technical, and taking slightly longer than originally expected, however Persimmon hope to make full Technical Submission in the coming weeks.

More widely, South Northants Council has secured a protection strip along the outer-edge of the relief road which will prevent further encroaching development and allow for the road to be dualled in the future, as part of a larger ambition to see the A5 fully dualled between Milton Keynes and Hinckley which would relieve pressure on the wider road network and improve traffic flows. Northants County Council has also confirmed that the relief road will be built to a standard depth which would not have an impact on any future dualling.

All local authority partners are working together on a signing strategy which will direct non-local through traffic along the relief road and away from the town centre, tackling the ongoing air quality issues on Watling Street. Discussions are continuing with HE on this point, and our shared view is that there wouldn’t be any obstacles to such a strategy, although final sign-off on the exact signage – as is usual for a road project – won’t happen until construction is underway.

It remains my ambition that the A5 along Watling Street should be detrunked with a weight limit imposed through the town, and I will continue that fight with HE on behalf of residents. The most important thing is that we get the TRR built first, as any road is better than no road, and turn to the next stage of improving traffic flows through the town.

I hope this update reassures residents on my continued focus on the early delivery of the Towcester Relief Road as a top priority, however please do get in touch with any questions or comments. I will be meeting with Persimmon and the local authorities in early February to discuss our progress and next steps, as part of the regular Towcester Relief Road Delivery Group meetings I have been chairing, and will update residents further then. I will also be holding a public meeting in the coming weeks to hear directly from you on your thoughts, and to answer any queries you may have.