The upgrade of a major stretch of road between Castleton and Rochdale town centre is underway, after the approval of £13.5m of external funding for the scheme.

The Bee Network project will see a number of junctions along the busy A58 Manchester Road upgraded, with new crossings to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, and new, optimised lights which will monitor traffic movements and speed up journey times.

Seven junctions are in line for improvements, including Manchester Road and Bolton Road, Manchester Road and Roch Valley Way and Manchester Road and Drake Street.

The project will be delivered in stages over an 18 month period to minimise disruption as much as possible, including:

▪️ A new crossing being created across Manchester Road to enable safe and easy access to Highfield Hospital.
▪️ A new cycle lane being created to extend the existing cycle lane in Castleton from The Royal Toby Hotel into Rochdale town centre.
▪️ New greenery and planting being introduced along Old Manchester Road, alongside road resurfacing, 20mph speed limits and traffic calming measures.
▪️ Increase of parking, with 30 new spaces being created close to Beech House School, to support people using Mandale park.

Upcoming Works
The project will start with Phase 1 on Monday 10 March, when work on the cycle lane will get under way outside the Royal Toby Hotel. This part of the project, set to last around six months, will see the road reduce to one lane between the Royal Toby and Tomlinson Street with temporary traffic lights in place.

Soon after, work will begin on Phase 6 on Monday 17 March in Manchester Road, close to Mandale Park. This will involve the creation of a new car park and a new crossing will be created close to the junction of Tweedale Street and Manchester Road. Roadworks will be in place on a short stretch of Manchester Road and Tweedale Street and it is expected to last around three months.