The Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge ByPass opened in 1987. Construction had been scheduled to start in May 1984 and the budget was £17 million.
The road was to be 7.3 km long, 6 km being dual carriageway. In addition. 2.9 km of side and slip roads were to be built. Construction was planned to take 2.5 years.
7 major road bridges, a railway bridge, a road viaduct and 3 footbridges were to be built.
Keith Holford's Buxworth archive features a number of photographs showing construction of the road.
Stuart Peel of Furness Vale workedon the construction project and has sent us some of his personal photos.
It was intended that the road be continued to by-pass Furness Vale, Newtown and Disley. The proposal for a route across Broadhey Hill would have been steeply graded and potentially affected b snow and ice during winter months. It was therefore rejected on safety grounds and because of its environmental impact. The preferred route, after amendments would have followed the railway through the Goyt Valley and would have passed beneath Albion Road alongside Newtown Station. Building this road would have been destructive. 16 houses and 6 businesses would be lost as well as the historic Goytside Farm.
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