A major new link road aimed at relieving some of Bolton’s busiest routes is also set to include flood defences. The Horwich Loco Works spine road is one of the most anticipated projects the borough has seen in recent years and comes as part of a wider plan to build more than 2,000 houses. Work has continued on the road throughout this year and Bolton West MP Chris Green says it should also include much needed flood defences.
Mr Green said: “Horwich has periodically had to been hit by floods and this is one of the main things that I’ve been concerned about, along with more general concerns about how Winter Hill gets flooded every so often. “So part of this project is that the Horwich Link Road will include huge pipes that can store vast amounts of water, which will then be released more slowly.” Horwich has often been hit by floods in recent years (Image: Public) Mr Green said that releasing the water more slowly would help to make sure that the sewage system was not overwhelmed and prevent sewage being dumped into waterways.
Horwich has long been the site of repeated flooding, with warning having been issued only last autumn when the UK was hit by repeated major storms. The wider Horwich Loco Works project will be made up of more than 2,000 new houses off Chorley New Road, over what had once been a major industrial site. The link road was proposed as a way of relieving the extra traffic on what are already some of the borough’s busiest roads that would be created .