Queen Elizabeth II Way will honour lasting legacy, council leader says

The council said the road would remove more than 35,000 heavy goods vehicles from Heywood town centre every year

A link road has been named after Queen Elizabeth II to ensure her "remarkable contribution to our nation is never forgotten", a council leader has said.

Rochdale Council's Neil Emmott said the newly-opened Queen Elizabeth II Way, which links the M62 and Heywood, would "transform" the town's road network.

He said it was named after the late monarch to honour her "lasting legacy that will echo down the generations".

He added that the £20m scheme to create it also "delivers good value".

A council representative said it was hoped the road, which links Junction 19 on the motorway with an industrial estate on Pilsworth Road, would remove more than 35,000 heavy goods vehicles from Heywood town centre every year and reduce accidents in the area.

They added that it will mean commercial and other vehicles will no longer divert to the M66 via smaller local roads, reducing combined journey lengths by tens of thousands of miles.

The council leader said the road would stand as "a lasting legacy that will echo down the generations"

Mr Emmott said the road, which has been the result of many years of work, will "reduce costs for the residents of Heywood and businesses through being able to travel fewer miles and provides an excellent service in the way that it will transform Heywood's road network".

He said he had pushed for it to be named after Her Majesty following her death in September.

He added that it would stand as "a lasting legacy that will echo down the generations and help ensure that Her Majesty's remarkable contribution to our nation is never forgotten".