Road closures for Transpennine Route Upgrade

A popular destination for holiday outings will be closed to all traffic for two weekends, including the May bank holiday.

A section of Uppermill High Street in Saddleworth will be blocked to motorists and pedestrians while works are completed on the Saddleworth viaduct. 

The road beneath the viaduct, part of Brownhill Lane, Den Lane and the pedestrian footpath along Huddersfield Narrow Canal will all be shut off between 6am on Saturday to 11am on Sunday on April 26 to 27 and May 3 to 4. 

The works will see new tracks fitted onto the Saddleworth viaduct as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU) and could impact anumber of train journeys between Manchester, Leeds and York. 

Speaking on behalf of the TRU, Mark Ashton said: “While we carry out works as part of the Transpennine Route Upgrade, the safety of the workforce and public are our number one priority. The planned road closures will be in place to protect vehicles and pedestrians while track upgrade works are carried out on the viaduct.

“We’re aware that this may cause some inconvenience, particularly over the bank holiday weekend, and we have been working closely with the highways and transport teams from Oldham Council to reduce the impact of the closure as much as possible.

“We really appreciate the local community’s patience and understanding while the work takes place.”

TRU is seeking to electrify parts of the railway and introduce faster, more frequent train services between Manchester, Huddersfield and Leeds.

As part of the program of improvement works, Saddleworth will also see new ramps and entrances installed at Greenfield station, changes to the highway bridge to allow for the installation of overhead line equipment and closure of a ‘timebomb’ level crossing at Moorgate Halt that has seen a number of ‘near misses’ in recent years. 

Moorgate Halt crossing will be in use during the closures, with marshals in place to direct people across the railway. 
Several public consultations have been held in Saddleworth in relation to the planned changes. Some members of the public recognised the alterations were ‘necessary to improve our railways’ but ‘likely to cause traffic mayhem’. Others worried it could cause ‘years of disruption’.