Yorkshire Street reopens as next phase of Town 2 Turf project in Burnley begins

The controversial £6m. Town 2 Turf regeneration project has caused huge traffic delayes around a key junction in Burnley town centre and near to Burnley Football Club’s Turf Moor, with the Yorkshire Steet section running over its scheduled completion time for the start of the Premier League season in August.

Yorkshire Street finally reopened on Friday but work begins today (Monday) on the roundabout at the junction of Centenary Way and Yorkshire Street.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “We're sorry that maintenance to The Culvert and other work taking place in the area as part of the Town2Turf project has taken longer than expected.

“From Monday the focus of the Town 2 Turf work in this area will move onto reducing the size of the roundabout at the junction of Centenary Way and Yorkshire Street to allow the kerblines to be remodelled and improvements to drainage as part of the process of replacing the roundabout with a traffic signal-controlled junction.

“The temporary traffic lights on Harry Potts Way will still be needed as the work progresses to improve the footpath between Albert Street and Eastham Place.

“The Town 2 Turf project is progressing well and we're grateful to people for their patience while we deliver this significant investment.”

The closure of Yorkshire Street was needed for a range of work which including repainting The Culvert to prolong its life by preventing corrosion, as well as cleaning and other minor maintenance to the masonry walls of the aqueduct to make the area more welcoming.

Work was also carried out to improve drainage and widen the pavements under The Culvert, install new bus laybys, and replace the central traffic island on Yorkshire Street as part of the Town2Turf scheme.

The scheme will see the roundabout at the junction of Yorkshire Street and Church Street being replaced by a traffic light junction with pedestrian crossings, the subway under Centenary Way being closed and the area landscaped, changes to the road system around the bus station, new pedestrian crossings, and improved paving, seating and lighting.