Two homes in Whittingham Lane demolished

A major new road to the north of the city is to take a further five months to complete and cost another £3m.

Problems building a bridge in a section of the Broughton Bypass are being blamed for the delays.

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Lancashire County Council – which is spending £24m – on the road to ease congestion at the Broughton crossroads made the announcement during Friday (30 September) afternoon.

Construction of the Brooklands Bridge, over Blundell Brook, at the southern end of the new road, has run into issues.

The Bypass was due to be open in March next year but is now not expected until August.

Read more: Watch the route Broughton Bypass is due to take

Director of development and corporate services Eddie Sutton said: “Exploratory work was carried out as part of the design and planning process, but you can only properly know what is needed once you start work on the ground.

“Once work started on site, a more comprehensive ground survey revealed that the ground conditions were more challenging than had been indicated by the initial survey. We then needed specialist equipment to fully investigate the situation and understand the changes that would need to be made to the design.

“We came up with a different bridge foundation design which would have enabled us to complete on time and on budget, however the Environment Agency asked us to go back to a version of the original design.

“This has meant that we have to build a bridge with significantly deeper foundations, taking longer than scheduled and increasing the overall cost.

“We’d like to thank people for their patience while this work takes place. I acknowledge that this delay will mean a longer period of disruption but I hope people will see that there is a long-term benefit in getting this right. The work is progressing well in general and we’re working hard to get everything finished by next summer.”

Read more: Homes demolished as Broughton Bypass work continues

Funding for the bypass – which comes from the City Deal – is to see another £3m ploughed in to take the total pot to £27m.

What work is being done now?

Helms Farms underpass is seeing work done and there’s warnings of traffic disruption as drainage work and earthwork begins on the east side of the A6 to the north of Broughton.

Traffic will be diverted while a roundabout is built.

What do you think about the Broughton Bypass? Do you drive in the area? Let us know your views in the comments below