A NEW main road has opened, linking the new Houlton neighbourhood to the town – but with turning restrictions which have drawn criticism from motorists.
The 1.5mile Houlton Way, including a purpose-built cycle road and footpath, was officially opened to the public on Thursday (November 21) after 18 months of construction.
Connecting to Clifton Road’s existing junction at Butlers Leap, the link road features a new bridge over the canal and runs parallel to the waterway before crossing Hillmorton Lane and joining the edge of Houlton.
But turning restrictions at the junction with Hillmorton Lane have proved unpopular with drivers on social media.
Turning left onto the new road from Hillmorton Lane northbound is prohibited – but County Councillor for Hillmorton Yousef Dahmash told social media users that this could be reversed by Warwickshire County Council when the new road and junction become adopted highway, once developer Urban & Civic’s planning obligations are discharged.
But a prohibition on turning right from the new road onto Hillmorton Lane southbound is likely to remain, as the junction was designed to be compact due to land availability constraints, meaning there is no space for vehicles to wait to turn.
The completion of Houlton Way has unlocked the next phase of the new neighbourhood’s development across the western edge of the site.
Urban&Civic development director Richard Coppell said: “The opening of the link road marks a pivotal point in the development of Houlton.
“The new route improves Houlton’s connectivity to Rugby and the wider area.”
The road became notorious in Rugby before it opened. In February, Hillmorton Lane reopened after work to install the new junction was completed – but it closed on the same day after motorists compared its new gradient to that of a roller-coaster. When it opened again in April, drivers said they were still scraping the bottom of their vehicles on the ‘rolling hills’ road.
Earlier this month, a new roadsign was unveiled in Clifton Road pointing down Houlton Way towards the non-existent suburb of ‘Dunsmore’ – instead of the new estate after which the road is named.
Visit www.houltonrugby.co.uk for more information about Houlton.
