Rawtenstall Residents to Benefit from Major Power Project

More than 11,000 homes and businesses in Rawtenstall, Rossendale are set to benefit from a £650,000 engineering project which starts today, to improve power supplies in the area. 

The new five-month project, starting Monday 27th June, will secure power supplies by replacing 3.8km of underground cable along Haslingden Road and Bacup Road which have been in place for 60 years.

The work is necessary for Rawtenstall and will reduce the risk of sever and prolonged power failure.

The five month project will move from Haslingden Road, starting at the substation near Tesco, down to Bacup Road as far as Hareholme. Though the project will take 5 months road closures and diversions will not be in place for the full 5 months, they will move as the work is completed.

The current provisional dates for work are;

Haslingden Road – 27/06/2016 – 02/09/2016

Oakley Road – 15/08/2016 – 02/09/2016

Back Haslingden Road (Road Closure) – 15/08/2016 – 02/09/2016 (stages)

Schofield Road – 15/08/2016 – 02/09/2016

St Marys Terrace – 15/08/2016 – 02/09/2016

St Marys Way -29/08/2016 -16/09/2016

Bank Street – 12/09/2016 – 01/10/2016

Kay Street – 12/09/2016 – 01/10/2016

Bacup Road – 26/09/2016 – 14/10/2016

Work will take place mainly in the carriageways and in peak traffic spots manned traffic lights will be in operation from 7am to 7pm in order to ease the flow of traffic.

 

Electricity North West have worked closely with Lancashire County Council on this work and the project has been years in the planning. When Bacup Road was last resurfaced Electricity North West and LCC worked together to do some of the underground work then so that there would be no need to dig the road up for this project, which saves a lot of time and money on the project.

Rossendale Council is working closely on this project with Electricity North West given the upcoming works associated with Spinning Point and Lancashire County Council’s work on Bank Street for a minimum of two weeks from July 4^th.

Speaking following a meeting with Electricity North West, Rossendale Council and Civic Pride, Leader Cllr Alyson Barnes said;

“This is important work that is taking place and is much needed investment into the electricity infrastructure of Rawtenstall. I understand people’s concerns about the potential level of disruption but the project is being very carefully managed to keep this to a minimum. Electricity North West have been very helpful in explaining the detail of the works to the residents, businesses and Civic Pride to help them understand the scope of the work and the planning that has gone into making this a smooth and successful project.”

Paul McGonigle, programme delivery manager for Electricity North West, said:

“This project is essential to help safeguard power supplies and keep the lights on for local customers for years to come. We maintain 44,000km of underground cable across the North West and some of these cables, like in Rawtenstall, need upgrading after serving the area well for more than 60 years. While our engineers carry out this work we will keep any disruption to a minimum. We have been working with Lancashire County Council to identify routes that will create the least disruption for residents and motorists.”

To allow engineers to carry out the work safely a road closure will be in place on Haslingden Road and Oakley Road on 15th August and access will be maintained for residents. Temporary traffic lights will be in place on Haslingden Road and Bacup Road between 8am-5pm on weekdays and Electricity North West have also kept customers along the route informed by letter.

If customers have any queries about the project, they can call Electricity North West on 0800 195 4141 or follow @ElectricityNW on Twitter.