Broughton Bypass suffers cost increases and delays

Lancashire County Council has announced that completion of the new Broughton Bypass has been delayed until for early 2018.

This extension of the construction programme means that the road will now open several months later than originally planned, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances which have affected the timetable and increased the total cost.

This includes a delay caused by a utility contractor being unable to carry out work on the site as planned, the rebuilding of an embankment which collapsed due to extremely wet ground conditions, redesigned drainage to accommodate underground equipment, and more challenging ground conditions than expected.

The construction of the new bypass is being carried out by Hochtief UK, on behalf of Lancashire County Council.

County councillor Keith Iddon, Cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We share people's frustrations at these delays and apologise for the disruption it has been causing to people's homes, businesses and journeys.

"We're clearly disappointed that there has been a further delay to this scheme, and look forward to seeing the final stages completed.

"We’re working with the contractors, Hochtief, to do everything that we can to minimise the inconvenience while this major build takes place.

"It's a big challenge to construct a major road such as the bypass, with the A6 carrying a lot of traffic and few options for alternative routes, which would allow us to close roads for longer as part of the work.

"It's been many decades since this road was first considered and the reality is that despite the delays, in a few months we will have a new bypass which will bring much-needed congestion relief to the village itself and the wider area. Great progress has already been made and a lot of construction work has been done which people may not be able to see from the road."

Some overnight closures will still be required close to the M55/A6 junction, to connect the new road to the current network. Traffic management is not anticipated at the new A6 roundabout and the Whittingham Lane roundabout, and will be carried out off-peak, if required.

In order to reduce the impact of delays, the county council worked with Hochtief, their contractor, to review the programme and identify any areas of work that could be rescheduled. But in some cases work needed to be carried out in a particular order, reducing the opportunities to catch up on the schedule.

The delay, as well as unforeseen cost increases and payments, will affect the overall cost of the scheme, with the total now estimated at £32m. The additional funding will come from the City Deal budget, with other highway improvement schemes amended to meet the shortfall.

The final overnight closure of the A6 north of Broughton has taken place, to complete the surfacing work on the A6 roundabout. Vehicles will soon be able to use the new roundabout.

The Whittingham Lane Roundabout has already opened to the public. Surfacing work is almost complete between the A6 roundabout and Whittingham Lane.

Most of the surfacing close to D'Urton Lane and the new southern roundabout has been completed. Work is taking place to connect the bypass to D'Urton Lane.

Other current work includes noise-reducing barriers along the route, drainage, bridge work and earthwork. The noise-reducing fencing for Broughton-in-Amounderness church and school is due to start in early July.

The surfacing work at the M55 end of the bypass, where it meets the A6, will start next week. The final work will require short overnight closures in the summer.  Details will be announced closer to the time.

Construction of the bypass will reduce traffic travelling through the centre of Broughton on Garstang Road by up to 90 per cent and improve journey times into and out of Preston. It will also create better connectivity to the wider road network, with benefits to the development and economic growth of the local area. The bypass is funded by the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal, which will help to create more than 20,000 new private sector jobs and see over 17,000 new homes built across the area, along with new school places, open green spaces and new health provision to cater for the growing population.