Major road changes near Botany Bay development where Greggs and Costa Coffee have just opened
Two busy roundabouts on the outskirts of Chorley are to be upgraded to help boost the capacity of the roads close to a major industrial development.
The works will take place to improve traffic flow in the vicinity of the Botany Bay Business Park.
A raft of employment and logistics space has been delivered as part of the redevelopment of the 21-acre site, where the iconic Canal Mill building still stands.
It also features several retail units – and just last month, branches of Greggs, Costa Coffee and Central Co-op all opened their doors at the location.
As part of the approval of the business park plans back in 2022, changes to a series of junctions in the area were demanded by highways bosses in order to lessen the impact of the increase in traffic.
Lancashire County Council is now seeking a contractor to undertake the revamp of two roundabouts which are just under a mile away from the Botany Bay site itself – and yards from each other.
The neighbouring traffic light-controlled interchanges between the A6 Preston Road and the A674 – near the Hartwood Hall pub – and the junction where the A6 meets Euxton Lane, close to Chorley Hospital, are both in line for an overhaul.
A procurement exercise is under way for the £2.2m scheme after it was approved by the county council’s cabinet last week. According to a report presented to members, the works will include alterations to the roundabout layouts, a widening of the roads and the installation of new traffic signals.
No date has been revealed for when the job will begin, nor how long it will take to complete. The cost of the upgrades is to be funded by the developer behind the Botany Bay project, FI Real Estate Management.
As the Lancashire Post revealed when the business park was given the go-ahead by Chorley Council in July 2022, the Hartwood and Hall and Chorley Hospital roundabouts will see new technology introduced to ensure more co-ordinated operation of the traffic lights at each junction.
Queue detection technology will also be reviewed and expanded, while he main central island at the hospital roundabout will be reprofiled.
The business park development at Botany Bay rose from the ashes of a previous plan to create an outlet shopping village at the site. That was abandoned in November 2020 amid developer concern over the retail downturn prompted by the pandemic.
The former cotton mill building itself, which dates back to 1855, had long been home to a number of small businesses selling a range of goods, including collectibles. It closed in February 2019 ahead of the planned retail redevelopment.