Link Road community event: the lowdown
A public information event held on Wednesday 5 July about construction of the new Houlton link road received a warm response from local residents.
Over 70 residents from the surrounding villages attended the event, organised by Urban & Civic, which provided detailed information on the construction of the 1.5 mile stretch of road which will link Houlton to Rugby town. The completed connection will ensure the 6,200 home development continues to strengthen Rugby’s growth as well as offering a new route into town for the new residents.
Starting work at the end of July, the link road will connect the western edge of Houlton to the Butler’s Leap junction next to Rugby Golf Club at Clifton. The road will run parallel to the canal and cross Hillmorton Lane creating a new junction there.
Work will begin at the Hillmorton Lane junction and shortly after at Butlers Leap, connecting up over the course of the 18 months. The build programme will also encompass the construction of a canal bridge.
Detailing duration of works, construction access routes and providing visuals of the completed project, the event saw significant interest from local residents, with homeowners from Hillmorton and Clifton pleased with the traffic relief that the road will deliver for the villages and the scheme’s delivery ahead of schedule.
The road is being built well ahead of its original timescales thanks to Urban&Civic securing a government loan from the Homes and Communities Agency to accelerate the delivery of this vital piece of infrastructure.
Urban & Civic was also joined at the event by representative from Galiford Try, the Northamptonshire-based contract delivering the works on behalf of the master developer.
Johanne Thomas, Communities and Partnerships for Urban&Civic said;
“We are delighted that so many local residents joined us for this information event. In addition to being able to provide full details of the build plan so that everyone is fully informed, it was also a great opportunity to talk at length with the community.
“This link road formed a key part of the planning permission for this flagship development – not only will it connect the new village of Houlton with Rugby town, but it will also ease traffic for surrounding villages, which benefits so many local people.
“We have had regular communications with our neighbouring communities, keeping them up to date with progress at Houlton and we look forward to welcoming local residents to future events as the build programme continues.”
