The reopening of the A530 – part of the council's North West Crewe Package scheme – has been delayed due to a planning delay from one of the council's partners on the project.

United Utilities discovered recently that original pipework installed below ground in the affected area was not as recorded.

Further technical investigation work was required as an immediate priority to determine the material of the original pipework, before new diversion work could take place.

As a result, the A530, which had been due to open at the end of October, will now unfortunately have to remain closed, with the new rescheduled date for the road to reopen being January 2023.

Councillor Craig Browne

Craig Browne, chair of Cheshire East Council's highways and transport committee, said: "It is very frustrating that this technical issue has arisen and as a result we find ourselves facing a delay.

"We have been working closely with United Utilities to set out what is required from them going forward on this vital strategic infrastructure project for Crewe. We are of course disappointed that this technical issue has come up and has delayed the planned reopening.

"In order to recover time, residents will now see works taking place at the weekends to try to claw back as much as possible, in an attempt to reopen the road before the target date of January. I can only apologise to residents for the prolonged period of disruption." 

Gareth Davies, customer delivery manager at United Utilities, said: "We have been working closely with Cheshire East Council and Balfour Beatty over the past few months to plan the six packages of work required of United Utilities as part of the North West Crewe Package. 

"These involve diverting existing mains water pipes at a number of locations, in a way that does not cause any disruption to supplies for our tens of thousands of customers in the area, including the hospital.

"Unfortunately, there were some delays of approximately eight weeks encountered by us and we sincerely apologise for any impact this may have had to the overall project. There were a number of factors at play, including the complexity of the work required, as well as the need to do some elements of work at night to keep our teams safe. We were also in a time of high demand due to the hot weather, and were carefully managing the resources required across our region.

"Of our six packages of work for the North West Crewe Package, two have now been finished and we are working hard to ensure the remaining four are completed on or before their estimated dates. We remain committed to working directly with Cheshire East Council and Balfour Beatty on this important strategic infrastructure project."

The council is keeping residents up to date through a monthly newsletter dedicated to works on the North West Crewe Package scheme – https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways_and_roads/roadworks/major-projects/north-west-crewe-package-nwcp/north-west-crewe-package.aspx