A lollipop man warned it would take more than 15 minutes to get through Rochdale's Sudden Junction, and he was right. The reporter's test commute in June 2026 found a 15-minute delay from the back of the queue on Roch Valley Way, matching the prediction.
The junction, dubbed 'Spaghetti Junction' by locals, connects major roads from Heywood and Castleton with Roch Valley Way and the Rochdale bypass. Roadworks began in May 2026, causing major delays. The council claims that due to their intervention, traffic problems have eased at peak times in recent weeks.
Testing the Commute
Starting at 8am on Roch Valley Way, near the United Utilities sewage works, the reporter joined a queue about 0.5 miles from the junction. After 20 light changes, he made it through onto the bypass by 8:15am. The route from Heywood on Bolton Road also took about 15 minutes, as predicted.
Another route, from St Mary's Gate past Highfield Hospital, was estimated to take around 20 minutes on Google Maps. The reporter did not test this route.
Roadworks and Improvements
The roadworks include resurfacing and installation of an 'intelligent signal system' as part of a £5m package funded by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). The council hopes the vast majority of the 12-month project will be completed in around seven months, by Christmas 2026.
Coun Dylan Williams, cabinet member for highways on Rochdale council, said in a social media post: “In the first week they created absolute traffic chaos. I made it clear to highways and TfGM officers that this could not continue and that it was causing misery to residents across the Borough who use this junction. I had lots of improvements put in place which significantly reduced the level of back logs and queuing. I also made it crystal clear that the contractors must be working at speed and get these works completed ahead of schedule.”
Council Monitoring and Actions
The council is monitoring traffic problems via CCTV and making changes to improve the situation, including increasing capacity southbound on the A58 and on Edinburgh Way, and accelerating certain parts of the works. A spokesperson for Rochdale Borough Council said: “We’re working hard to complete work at Sudden Junction ahead of schedule, alongside our cabinet member for highways, who has made achieving this one of his key priorities. We’re aware that, while this work will create much shorter journeys in the long term, it has created significant disruption in the short term. We’re pleased to report that disruption has reduced since the work started and are hopeful that the vast majority of this work will now complete by Christmas.”
Many locals described scenes similar to a 'crystal maze' when the works first started on Monday, May 18. However, the reporter's test commute suggested that the initial chaos may be easing.
