Road Closure at Charlestown: What we know.

Update as of 28 February 2025

The road is now back open and operating under 2 way lights.

Update as of 14 February 2025

The shuttle bus service will operate Monday-Saturday 7:30am-6pm, at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.

There is pedestrian access through the road closure site, making it easier for people to hop off one shuttle bus, and onto the other.

Update as of 12 February 2025

There are now further works planned at Charlestown, with a new road closure planned from 8pm Friday 14th February – 6am Monday 24th February. The site of the new closure is 65m up from the original hole, in the Todmorden direction. This is obviously a frustrating update and one that nobody wanted to hear. We’ve compiled some information from multiple sources in the hopes it will be easier to read in one place.

The official diversion is over Cragg Vale, the A58, or the M62 via Milnrow/ Ainley Top. Smaller roads like Cross Stone Rd, Blackshawhead and Colden are NOT suitable for heavy traffic, and certainly not larger vehicles. Please follow the official diversions.

West Yorkshire Metro have confirmed the 591/592 buses will follow the diversion over the A58 and anybody needing to travel on to Halifax will need to take the 593 bus from Hebden Bridge.

There will be a shuttle bus running on both sides of the road closure, from Todmorden Bus Station to the closure and the other from Hebden Bridge HB6 Bus Stop to the closure.

Both services will operate at 15 & 45 minutes past the hour between 7:30am and 6pm and there are hopes one will wait for the other, allowing people to easily swap onto the other bus – this is to be confirmed.

WYMetro information on affected services here.

Trains will continue to run as scheduled, but we would recommend checking on Trainline / Northern Rail before travelling, jsut incase of any last minute cancellations or delays.

Businesses are still open on both sides of the closure but there is no through route to Hebden Bridge. Businesses right up to the closure point will still be open!

If people have questions or comments they can contact Yorkshire Water’s Customer Management Centre on 03451 242424, or they can email [email protected], using the subject ‘A646 closure’ it will be directed to the correct team.

Similarly, the best way for businesses to contact YW to start/progress a claim is via email at [email protected] so that it can be directed to the relevant team.

Update as of 20 January 2025

The road will be opening under a 2-way lights system from 6am, Thursday 23rd January.

Update as of 10 January 2025

A further update from Calderdale Councillor Sarah Courtney on Facebook, through her and Calderdale Council’s communications with Yorkshire Water, states that, due to further complications during reapirs and recent extreme weather conditions, the reopening of Halifax Road is delayed.

The new hopes are that a partial road reopening under 2-way managed traffic lights is possible from Monday 27th January.

Update as of 6 January 2025

Following an update from Calderdale Councillor Sarah Courtney last week, it was stated that the plan is to work towards re-opening the road under 2-way managed lights, from Monday 13th January.

Update as of 20 December 2024

The road closure at Charlestown near Callis Bridge, towards Hebden Bridge has been a cause of many issues with traffic and has been well documented in the recent days.

With this situation being managed by Yorkshire Water and Calderdale Council as the Highways Authority, they are the appropriate bodies to lead communications, but we’ve compiled a short list of contacts and information that we hope will be helpful.

Jonathan Timbers, Israr Ahmed and Sarah Courtney are the Calderdale Councillors for the Calder Ward and have all been posting updates on the closure and are in contact with Yorkshire Water to keep on top of what’s happening. We recommend following them on Facebook as they are likely to be the best sources of information.

The road is accessible right up to the road closure, there is no through road to Hebden Bridge but it’s important to note that the businesses along this stretch towards Hebden are still open for custom during this time.

We’ve been advised that more signage has been delivered/ is in transit, which we hope will help alert people that businesses are still open, whilst directing to suitable diversions.

We advise following the official diversion route of Littleborough/Cragg Vale, the A58, or the M62 between Milnrow and Ainley Top for HGVs. These roads are much more suited for heavy use.

Rural areas like Cross Stone, Blackshaw Head, Colden and Heptonstall are unsuitable for heavy traffic. These are narrower country lanes and can be difficult to manoeuvre even when the roads are quiet. Residents in these areas are noticing severe traffic, deteriorating roads, and blockages due to unsuitable vehicles, so we strongly advise against using these routes.

West Yorkshire Metro announced that the buses to Halifax will divert over the A58 route, and Tetley’s bus company are running a shuttle service from Todmorden Bus Station stand D, to the Eastwood area. It will operate between 9am to 5pm and departs Todmorden at 15 and 45 minutes past the hour.