Cash to widen A500 commuter route

Cheshire East has won vital funding for widening the A500 commuter route link to the M6 at Stoke-on-Trent.

Plans include turning the existing single lane A500 into dual carriageway and improving Junction 16 of the M6.

It is part of a £25 million package of road improvements for the area that also includes an upgrade of the M6 Junction 17 and a new Basford West road by March 2015.

The A500 widening will cost £2.8m and the council has received funding of £1.97million from the Department of Transport.

The rest of the cash is expected to be covered by a Section 106 contribution from the Basford West developer as part of building the £5.4 million Basford West Spine Road.

Talks are already under way to secure legal agreements with the Highways Agency and the Basford West developer.

But a report to Cheshire East's Cabinet meeting next weeks warns: "The speed of reaching the necessary legal agreements and satisfactory conclusion is key to ensuring completion of these projects on time."

The Basford West Spine Road will create a new link from the A500 to the Gresty Road corridor and the centre of Crewe.

Cheshire East's emerging Local Plan hopes that around 2,000 jobs could be created on the Basford West site as well as 370 new homes.

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