Warwickshire News Mine

Bilton Lane was due to close on April 7 for three weeks to allow works to get underway on the junction as part of the £37m Rugby Western Relief Road project, but after hearing concerns from local people the county council has agreed to postpone the closure.

Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet member with responsibility for highways, said: “We have listened to the concerns raised by users of the Bilton Lane, and the road will remain open until further notice, and therefore will not now be closed on 7th April.

“The closure will be rescheduled to a later date to allow greater publicity and to correspond with school holidays, to minimise the impact on the residents of Rugby and the travelling public. Warwickshire County Council and its contractor Carillion would like to apologise for any problems that may have been caused.”

Work got underway in late summer 2007 on the £36.6 million scheme, with the two-year contract awarded by Warwickshire County Council to Carillion Regional Civil Engineering who competitively tendered for the works. 

The 6km road will stretch from Potford’s Dam on the A4071 to the Avon Mill roundabout at the junction of Newbold Road and the A426 (Leicester Road). The relief road will bring various benefits to the area including:

the removal of through traffic from both Cawston and Bilton villages
the reduction of congestion in the town centre in particular Bilton Road, Newbold Road, Corporation Street and Warwick Street Gyratory.
increased cycling facilities in the Rugby area
allowing the possibility of the railway line re-opening in future.

The informative website at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/rwrr is proving popular with 10,558 people visiting the website in February, up another thousand on the 9,504 people in January, and well up on the 6,285 checking the Warwickshire County Council Rugby Western Relief Road pages in December.

This compares to September, when just 1,633 visited the pages, and October, where 2,122 visited the pages.

The website provides a host of information and latest developments on the works, including details on the Parkfield Road closure and diversion routes, footpath closures and diversions, ecology measures being taken as part of the works (including the efforts to protect the Great Crested Newt), landscaping plans (such as 2,000 reeds being planted to help with pollution control), and the general programme of works.

Link to WCC