Work begins on long-awaited Poynton Relief Road

Work has now begun on the £53m Poynton Relief Road.

Local residents have welcomed the news, which following decades of campaigning to ease the burden of high traffic volumes and congestion in Poynton.

Cheshire East Council’s contractor, Graham, is undertaking enabling works to clear parts of the site and prepare the ground for construction.

The design and build contract was awarded in Autumn 2019 to Graham, which has been undertaking detailed design and site surveys, including ecological surveys and the creation of new ecological habitat.

The 3km road is expected to open to traffic in Autumn 2022.

Funding for the £53m scheme was agreed by government earlier this year, following a successful bid by the council for local growth funding administered by the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership.

Poynton Relief Road will be a modern single carriageway. The relief road will also include two overbridge crossings for use by walkers, cyclists and farm vehicles. A 3.5-metre-wide combined cycle and footway will run beside the length of the route on the western side of the main carriageway.

Cllr Craig Browne, deputy leader of Cheshire East Council said: “I am delighted that work has now begun on the long-awaited Poynton Relief Road. The council sees this scheme as a key priority in our major infrastructure plans to improve connections across the whole borough.

“The Poynton Relief Road is a critical part of delivering our vision for sustainable economic growth. It will create jobs, address the longstanding problems of congestion in and around Poynton and improve access to Macclesfield and other key strategic employment and visitor sites.”

Peter Molyneux, major roads director at Transport for the North, said: “As one of the pre-2027 road schemes outlined in our Investment Programme, the Poynton Relief Road is a strategic project that will benefit direct users and also support wider connectivity for the area. As such, we are delighted that work has now started.

“Once complete, the new road, as well as the accompanying junction upgrades and cycleway and footway facilities, will bring considerable benefits for people and freight travelling into and out of the area, and also to Manchester Airport.”

Transport Secretary, with cabinet responsibility for the Northern Powerhouse, Grant Shapps, said: “This new road will cut congestion and pollution in Poynton, improve access to job opportunities and education and unlock plans for thousands of homes – benefiting residents, businesses and the wider region.”

Leo Martin, managing director of civil engineering for Graham, said: “I’ve no doubt this project will provide vast benefits to the Poynton and Macclesfield areas and will be the latest in a number of important transport infrastructure schemes we have been proud to deliver in recent years.”

Cheshire East Council contributed £21m towards the cost of the scheme with Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership providing £5.6m from the Government’s Growth Deal and the Department for Transport providing £16.4m.

A total of £7.7m is expected to come from developer contributions.