A NEW route connecting Winsford Industrial Estate to the M6 could be on the cards after transport chiefs agreed to look into it this year.

The Cheshire and Warrington local transport body (LTB) has agreed to consider developing a business case for upgrading Clive Green Lane and building a Middlewich southern link road.

If it follows the Middlewich eastern bypass – which is currently going through Cheshire East Council’s planning process – it would effectively become a second bypass for the town.

Cllr Michael Parsons, CEC member for Middlewich, said: “Middlewich does need a full bypass – without question it needs a full bypass.

“If that full bypass could also include Winsford then I don’t see much point in it bypassing us and not our neighbours.”

Clive Green Lane connects Road One and the A54 with the A530 Nantwich Road – but it is a single-carriageway country lane with a narrow bridge over the Shropshire Union Canal branch.

It is hoped that a new link road could connect Winsford with the M6 at Sandbach or Crewe, rather than at junction 18, while it could also unlock land for development.

CEC has previously proposed a link between Winsford Industrial Estate and the Middlewich eastern bypass in its local transport plan, which was unveiled last year.

Meanwhile, the Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership also called for improvements to the A54 and A530 corridors in mid Cheshire as part of its transport strategy, which was approved last November.

Cllr Brian Clarke, Cheshire West and Chester Council member for Winsford Wharton and cabinet member for economic development and infrastructure, added: “We do need that bypass.

“It has now been identified as very important, not only for Winsford but also for Middlewich, because it would take away the problem where high vehicles that go up Nantwich Road cannot pass the low bridge.”

The project is one of eight business cases or studies which the LTB has agreed to consider in 2019, and it will now look to secure funding for each one.