MAJOR works to create an access road to the new Saddleworth School in Diggle are due to begin on April 19 and will take about six months to complete.
The scheme will provide a direct route to the school, which is set to open in March 2022.
New parking, including spaces for residents, will also be built along with new traffic signals and push button pedestrian crossings. Footway improvements, landscaping and new boundary walls will also be completed along with other improvements.
To enable to works to be carried out safely, a diversion will be in place for approximately six months, with the road due to be open as normal by winter 2021.
The diversion scheme has been designed to support traffic to flow during peak periods as much as possible.
A temporary one-way system on Huddersfield Road, from the school access road, to Standedge Road will be put in place.
Traffic wishing to travel northbound on Huddersfield Road will instead be directed along the A670 Standedge Road to its junction with the A62 Huddersfield Road. Traffic will then turn right onto the A62 Huddersfield Road and continue eastbound along the A62 Fields Road/Huddersfield Road before turning southbound onto Huddersfield Road.
Spurn Lane will become access only during the works period to protect residents from ‘rat running’ and will be closed to all vehicles.
To enable the safe manoeuvre of vehicles, the A62 Huddersfield Road and A62 Standedge Cutting will be reduced to 30mph and resurfacing will be carried out where needed in advance of works starting.
A three-tonne weight restriction will be temporarily lifted so larger vehicles can travel on Huddersfield Road as part of the diversion.
Oldham Council is working with waste management to ensure refuse collections continue to take place and the impact of the diversion on services is kept to a minimum.
Access for pedestrians, bicycles and emergency vehicles will be available throughout the highways works.
An Oldham Council spokesperson said: “We know these works are going to have a big impact on Diggle and we have developed a traffic management scheme which allows traffic to flow as much as possible.
“Contractors will aim to minimise disruption as much as possible, but due to the scale of the works, this is unfortunately unavoidable, so please plan your journeys in advance.
“These works are essential in bringing us one step closer to delivering the brand-new Saddleworth School which will provide our young people with the much-needed, modern, learning environment they deserve.”
Updates will be provided online at www.oldham.gov.uk/newsaddleworthschool and Diggle residents will receive a letter with detailed information about the works.
You can also email saddleworth.school@oldham.gov.uk if you have any questions or queries.
Once again, no consideration for Ward Lane, Running Hill and Church Road rat running. This will cause 6 months of carnage over the hill between Uppermill and Diggle. Right through the 6 week holidays and lots of grandpa green visitors.
Add to this to the new bridle path bridge installation at Church Road due ‘soon’, and there will be serious safety issues. A one way system ‘out of Diggle’ via Ward Lane should be installed as well.
Well, last Monday there was absolute mayhem around G Greene’s . Impossible to get up Ward Lane for cars driving in, reversing, getting stuck…. And people parking in Diggle anywhere they could find regardless of residents convenience. Add. 6 months of the roadworks to that and….help! Very sad for Digglers.
I received a pamphlet from the labour party last week saying they had done good work for saddle worth. I live in Diggle and noticed not a word said about the new school being built against the wishes of most of Diggle residents. Has this carbuncle become a embarrassment ? Remember, this area is still a flood risk regardless of what they say.
School should have been left in uppermill
Delph: 20mph limit through the village,
Uppermill: 20mph limit through the village,
Greenfield: 20mph limit through the village,
Dobcross: 20mph limit through the village.
Diggle: Massive upheavel with the school construction. New road layout due to the one way system, cars parked on the road all through the village, very narrow pavements at the village entrance. No 20mph limit….. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
MOAN. MOAN. MOAN.
That’s all people from Diggle do.
For years it’s been the poor mans Uppermill with no facilities and no centre, now it’s got a really bright future with new houses, a spanking new school and all the positives that come with it. But what are they doing? Moaning again like old whingers.
I live in Greenfield and we would have LOVED the school to come here. They don’t deserve it.