Waverley link road plans in spotlight

From 2 until 8 pm on Tuesday, August 16, officers from both Rotherham Borough and Sheffield City Councils will be available at The Old Rectory, Handsworth, to answer questions on the proposals.

The 1.2 mile single-carriageway, geared to reducing traffic through Woodhouse Mill and Handsworth, will assist with vehicle movements through an area that will see considerable new development—both at the Advanced Manufacturing Park and a new Waverley community.

The new road would provide a new access to these developments and take traffic away from the already-congested B6200 Retford/Handsworth Road and from the A630 Sheffield Parkway and M1 motorway.

The proposed scheme is different from the one originally proposed in 2009. Other routes have been considered as well as the alternative of doing nothing.

The consultation, which has seen leaflets sent to 10,000 households in both Rotherham and Sheffield, is asking for the views of the public on the route that will run from Highfield Lane to the B6200 Retford Road at the existing junction with Furnace Lane.

The proposal will see the road run along the east side of the Woodhouse Mill playing fields.

But many residents have opposed the scheme.

This initial consultation is being run so Rotherham Borough Council can meet the

Department for Transport's deadline of September 9, which is when the authority has to submit its “best and final bid” for funding for the scheme.

Once the consultation ends on Wednesday, August 31, the authority will consider all the responses made before deciding whether or not to make a funding bid to transport ministers.

If the scheme is taken forward and a planning application submitted then the public will have a further opportunity to make their views known.

Further information on the link road and the study into the alternatives can be found on the Rotherham Borough Council website at http://www.rotherham.gov.uk/info/200107/transport_policy/150/consultation_on_transportation_issues