Key Wigan route to be shut for bridge inspection

A van wedged under Prescott Street bridge in February this year

Prescott Street, on the outskirts of the town centre, will be shut from between 9.30am and 3.30pm while Network Rail engineers carry out structural examination of the railway bridge under which it passes.

The parapet has been struck several times in recent years by tall vehicles whose drivers either ignore or miscalculate the glaring height restriction signs in front of them.

Many vehicles use the industrial estate road to get from Frog Lane to Wallgate and it is expected that the closure will lead to greater congestion elsewhere, even though it has been timed to be completed between the morning and evening rush hours.

Meanwhile Wigan Council has hastily withdrawn notification of Poolstock Lane’s closure on Tuesday and Wednesday from its roadworks bulletin after it was pointed out that the work that prompted it - on the newly-created A49 link road bridge straddling it - does not require the road to be closed.