Middlewich Bypass main construction: design, phasing and cost notes for engineers
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Cheshire East Council has approved Balfour Beatty for the £53.8m main construction phase of the 1.6‑mile (2.5km) Middlewich eastern bypass, with site works due to start in spring 2026 and opening targeted for spring 2028. The single carriageway will link Pochin Way to the A533 Booth Lane, incorporating new bridges over the Sandbach–Northwich railway line and the Trent and Mersey Canal plus a combined cycleway/footway. The £107.67m scheme, backed by a capped £48m Department for Transport contribution, is intended to ease A54/A533 junction congestion and unlock up to 1,950 homes and employment land.
Technical Brief
- Stage-two main construction is valued at £53.8m under a single Balfour Beatty contract.
- Cledford Lane works will be delivered in phased packages specifically to reduce scheme costs.
- Department for Transport funding is capped at £48m, including £1.26m already drawn down pre‑2021.
- Total scheme cost is currently estimated at £107.67m, covering historic development and business case spend.
- Funding is embedded in Cheshire East Council’s 2025–2029 medium‑term financial strategy, securing local match.
- Highways and transport committee approval was unanimous, reducing governance risk to contract award and mobilisation.
- For similar bypass schemes, phased delivery of discrete links (like Cledford Lane) is emerging as a cost-control tactic.
Our Take
At a total scheme cost of about £108m within Cheshire East, this Middlewich Eastern Bypass sits at the larger end of local-authority-led road schemes in our infrastructure database, which may constrain the council’s 2025–2029 medium-term financial headroom for other capital works.
Balfour Beatty’s selection on this 1.6-mile scheme reinforces its position as a preferred contractor for complex local road projects in the United Kingdom, which in our coverage often leads to follow-on work on adjacent junction upgrades and maintenance frameworks.
The Department for Transport’s earlier £1.26m contribution, despite not yet being matched by a larger construction grant in this piece, signals that Cheshire East Council is likely to keep the scheme aligned with central government appraisal frameworks, which can influence design choices around junction layouts and active-travel provision along the A54–A533 corridor.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
