Plea for relief road (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Plea for relief road
6:40pm Sunday 28th October 2012 in News By Scott D'Arcy
Residents and parish councillors want the Purton - Iffley Road link to be a prority
A PARISH council has called for a firm commitment by town planners to make building a relief road a priority in their latest development plan.
Members of Haydon Wick Parish Council have urged Swindon Council to put the Purton Road to Iffley Road dual carriageway link at the forefront of the Local Plan blueprint for north Swindon.
The road, starting from the bottom of Thamesdown Drive and joining Great Western Way close to the Bruce Street Bridges, has been estimated to cost £100m.
But ward councillor Des Moffat (Lab, Rodbourne Cheney) told parishioners at a meeting of Haydon Wick Parish Council that the costing of the road link may be overestimated.
He said: “When Priory Vale was first considered the original proposal was to join the Purton Road to Iffley Road by a dual carriageway, while there has since been another route considered which connects Thamesdown Drive to Barnfield near to B&Q instead.
“Both of these routes would ease the weight of traffic congestion in both north and west Swindon.
“There has been talk of the cost being £100m and therefore too expensive to be built – the honest answer is that nobody has ever properly costed the route.
Parish council chairman Richard Hailstone said: “Haydon Wick Parish Councillors want to ensure that, at an early stage, Swindon Council looks again at the alternatives to growth in the northern development area.
“To minimise the future impact of any further delay this parish council wants to play its part and co-operate with Swindon Borough Council to achieve this major infrastructure requirement.
Cabinet member for planning Dale Heenan (Con, Covingham & Dorcan) said: “Every councillor, community group and resident wants the road built.
“All the figures I have received show that we will need £100m, with £60 million on the road itself and the rest on junction improvements, “Until we can secure money nobody is going to be able to say when it could be done.”
