Junction 33 services to open this week
A new £40 million M1 service station will open in Rotherham on Friday (January 17).
The Junction 33 centre at Catcliffe was supposed to have been open to the public last Friday, but was pushed back.
The owners have declined to tell the Advertiser what the delay involved but say the service area – employing around 230 workers at shops and cafes including Starbucks, KFC, Pret, Waitrose, WHSmith, Burger King and Chopstix – is now just about ready.
An official opening event will be staged on Saturday, January 25, when entertainment including live music and giveaways are promised.
The configuration of the site, which is visible from the M1 and Sheffield Parkway, is an unusual one, with cars entering from the Rotherham side of the roundabout dipping under the M1 carriageway to the main services area on the Sheffield side.
An exit road joins the Parkway on the approach to the roundabout, which has been widened to three lanes.
The main amenity building, measuring 32,000 sq ft, will include seven concession units, a retail area, gaming area, toilets, seating and a children's play area on the ground floor. A mezzanine floor includes an eighth unit, further seating and a business lounge/remote working hub.
It will be Welcome Break’s 60th services site in the UK and provides and extra service station between Woolley Edge 12 miles to the north and Woodall 14 miles to the south.
During construction of the M1 in the 1960s a site to the north of Junction 35 had been identified for a service area but plans were cancelled.