Blackburn's £2m roundabout project and end date revealed

The four-arm Sunny Bower roundabout project should help to serve a major housing expansion taking place on the outskirts of town, which hopes to provide 1650 homes on land adjoining Whalley Old Road.

Blackburn with Darwen Council planners have now received a Permitted Development application that seeks permission to begin the works next week, but also reveals more details about the road improvements that residents can expect to cause issues into next year.

These include a new zebra crossing, dual-use pathways and improved street lighting for pedestrians, alongside changes to the speed limit on the well-used route into northeastern Blackburn.

The application from the council’s Highways team goes into detail on how the contractor, who was appointed by the council in April, will go about the major investment in road infrastructure.

According to the documentation the whole route will be resurfaced with asphalt, including the attached pedestrian walkways, which will now be shared with bicycles.

Alongside new LED street lighting to improve visibility in the area, several of these paths will be widened to three metres, with a nearby back street leading to Stonehill Garden Centre also being widened to ‘improve traffic movements’ around the new junction.

While the council have previously confirmed that Whalley Old Road will not be closed for the entirety of this infrastructure project, with two-way traffic signals in place where possible, the document did admit when the disruption, and inevitable diversion, were due to end.

Side roads and pavements near the roundabout project are also due to be improved (Image: Will Morgan)

Blackburn should have a brand new roundabout and road surface on Whalley Old Road by the end of February 27, according to the document, which states: “The construction programme is currently envisaged as approximately 30 weeks.”

Nearby resident and vocal campaigner for people impacted by the works, Ian Sykes, has continued to call for resurfacing work to be carried out on the diversion route, Blackburn Old Road, before traffic are redirected down it for weeks, or even months.

He said: “Whilst it’s positive news that through access will be maintained where possible, this would be an ideal time to fully resurface Blackburn Old Road in order to improve an already dangerous route.”

There will be 15 construction workers carrying out the infrastructure project, between the hours of 8am and 5pm, for those seven-and-a-half months.

The plans reveal a new zebra crossing and speed limiting measures on approach to the new roundabout (Image: Blackburn with Darwen Council)

When completed, the existing east-west section of the road should be realigned, with the addition of a southern arm to improve access to the Bovis Homes site, where around 100 homes are already being built.

The route leading up to the roundabout will also face a speed reduction from 60mph to 40mph on approach.

A northern arm will be built but lead to nowhere, as the land it connects to has been earmarked for development in the town’s housing masterplan.

The layby and bus turning area currently situated where the future roundabout will be is set to be closed off from June 15, as the site is prepared for the full works to begin a week later, on June 22.