Bury Old Road Closures From 2 Nov for £495,500 Resurfacing

Bury Old Road is to be resurfaced from Thatch Leach Lane in Whitefield to Cuckoo Lane in Prestwich, at an estimated cost of £495,500. Closure permits for the work start at 8pm on Monday 2 November.

The job is set out in an officer decision record, reference PLACE OPS 1319. It was signed in September and published on the council’s decisions register on 6 October. It has had no press release.

What is being resurfaced

The decision covers three stretches of the A665:

• Bury Old Road itself, from Thatch Leach Lane to Cuckoo Lane
• the service road outside the shops between Polefield Approach and Heywood Road
• the adopted section of the service road between Derby Road and Taunton Grove

The work goes to J Hopkins (Contractors) Ltd and WJ North Ltd, the council’s preferred bidders on the Greater Manchester Highways Alliance Framework.

The money comes from Bury’s £4.5m share of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement for maintaining the Key Route Network, Greater Manchester’s main roads, between 2022/23 and 2026/27.

When the roads are shut

The council’s permits are on Greater Manchester road works online, which we read on 22 October. All four share one council reference and are marked as granted:

The permits do not say whether the road is shut all day or only at night. An 8pm start and a 6am finish is the usual shape of an overnight job, but the council has not published working hours, a diversion or a notice. TfGM’s travel alerts had no bus diversion for it on 22 October.

The council’s resurfacing page now lists Bury Old Road among its current schemes in Prestwich. It says residents near a scheme get an information leaflet before work starts.

The window includes Saturday 7 November, the night of the free Heaton Park fireworks. The council has not said whether work pauses that night.

Why it did not go to Cabinet

Bury’s officer decision form sets two spending limits:

• above £100,000, the decision must be published
• above £500,000, it must go to Cabinet in a report

At £495,500, the estimate is £4,500 under the Cabinet limit. Officers could approve it themselves, with the cabinet member consulted on 5 October.

What else is happening on Bury Old Road

• United Utilities has two-way lights on Bury Old Road in Holyrood ward until 2 November, from the same permit map.
• Back Bury Old Road has been shut on an emergency council permit since 15 September, running to 2 November, the day the resurfacing permits begin.
• The council’s 2026/27 highways programme includes £50,000 to upgrade the old pelican crossing on Bury Old Road near Cuckoo Lane to a puffin crossing. The decision record does not say whether the two jobs will be done together.

What it means for you

• If you drive Bury Old Road between Whitefield and Prestwich in the evening, plan for closures from Monday 2 November until 20 November. Check the Greater Manchester road works map before you set off.
• If you use the shops on the service road between Polefield Approach and Heywood Road, that road is being resurfaced too, on the same dates.
• If you live on the route, look out for the council’s leaflet, which should give the working hours.

We will add the hours and any diversion when the council publishes them. Our Bury roadworks page carries every other closure in the borough this fortnight.