Kegworth Bypass is open for motorists
70-year campaign finally pays off
KEGWORTH Bypass has officially opened following a 70-year campaign to reduce traffic congestion in the historic village.
The bridge over the M1 was officially opened to road vehicles in a small ceremony with members of the local community, Kegworth Parish Council and North West Leicestershire District Council driving over the bridge, which forms a key part of the Kegworth Bypass connecting the A6 to the A453 at Ashby Road.
The bridge and Kegworth Bypass have been delivered by SEGRO as part of the improvements to the road infrastructure around SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway (SLP-EMG). The £100m infrastructure works also include a new public bus terminal and 50-acre rail freight terminal.
The opening follows a pedestrian only event where members from the village and Kegworth Parish Council, were invited to walk the bridge starting at Long Whatton.
The new bridge and bypass have been much sought after by Kegworth residents to reduce the level of traffic through the village, estimated to be 1,200 HGV vehicles per day. The opening of the bridge should reduce traffic and congestion in Kegworth by around 60 per cent and improve the air quality.
David Hignett, Kegworth Parish Council chairman, said: “Kegworth has been waiting for a bypass since 1947 when the first route was drawn onto a map.
“The village has been dominated by vehicles, particularly HGVs, with some 1,200 passing through here every day from Monday to Friday. It is therefore great news that this bridge is now open, with a 7.5 tonne weight limit imposed, which will have a dramatic impact and help restore the ‘village feel’ of Kegworth.”
Andrew Pilsworth, SEGRO’s business unit director, national logistics, said: “SEGRO Logistics Park East Midlands Gateway is a hugely important development, for the region’s economy and the UK as a whole, and the bridge is key piece of infrastructure that will bring great benefits to the local community such as reduced traffic going through the village.
“It is great that members of the parish council were able to mark its opening on Saturday after wanting it to be built for almost seven decades.”
Whatton Road, Kegworth Road and Ashby Road in Kegworth have also reopened.
The bridge comprises 1,200 tonnes of steel and concrete and was built using pioneering modular construction methods. Steel components manufactured in Darlington were transported to the location at the side of M1 and assembled and manoeuvred into place using specialist machinery.
Construction on the 700-acre development, which is described as an ‘inland port’, began in 2017 and will provide up to 6m sq ft of industrial and logistics space. With demand for high quality, well located big box space strong, 2.5m sq ft has already been leased to companies including ShopDirect, the UK’s second-largest pure play online retailer, and Kuehne + Nagel, a leading global logistics company.