£153m for long-awaited Wigan-Bolton link road announced

The government has committed £153m to build part of a long-awaited Greater Manchester link road between Wigan and Bolton.

The Wigan-Hindley Link Road will connect the A49 in Wigan to the A58 in Hindley - and work is due to start by March 2029, the Local Democracy Reporting Service says.

The link road will be 2.5 miles (4km) in length, including related upgrades between Ince-in-Makerfield and Hindley. It will also connect into other road schemes, creating a joined-up east-west link.

"For over 70 years, this link road was talked about, promised, then quietly dropped time and time again," Makerfield MP and link road campaigner Josh Simons said. "This is what happens when you don't back down."

The Wigan-Hindley Link Road will provide a new access over the west coast main line railway as an extension of the A49 Link Road.

It will also aim to remove through traffic from Wigan town centre and the A577 between Wigan and Hindley.

This comes one year after Wigan Council published a strategy for "east-west road links", which it claimed would be "transformational for the communities impacted".

But original proposals for a new road between the towns date back almost 80 years - pre-dating the building of the M6, M61 and M58 motorways, which would be linked by the route.

A formal route for the road was later identified - with the A5225 approved in the early 1990s - but the scheme was never delivered.

Simons said repeated proposals for a link road were dropped. "Nothing changed - I was having none of that.

"This happened because people refused to put up with it any longer, and because we kept pushing.

"When you don't back down, long-standing issues can be solved.

"Things that were written off can still be won."

Simons added he would be working with neighbouring MPs over the following months and years to "ensure the full Wigan to Bolton link is delivered in full".

Secretary of State for Transport Heidi Alexander said: "This is a transformational moment for people in the area - a project talked about for over 70 years is finally being delivered.

"It will ease congestion, unlock new jobs, and make a real difference to everyday life."

Other sections of the extended link road towards the eastern section of the area will be dependent on major housing development schemes being progressed.

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