A council has said a major relief road should be fully complete by the summer of 2025.
Phil Larratt, a councillor with responsibility for highways and transport at West Northamptonshire Council, said it was “making significant strides” at Sandy Lane, near Northampton.
It runs between Duston and Harpole, but has been closed for a year because of work on a housing development, sparking frustration from residents and businesses.
Larratt, a Conservative councillor, said the authority hoped the “full route will be operational by spring 2025, much earlier than initially planned”.
Sandy Lane goes from Berrywood Road, Duston, towards the A4500 Weedon Road, giving access to Kislingbury, or Junction 16 of the M1.
Eighteen hundred homes are being built on the Western Gate and Norwood Farm developments, and the Sandy Lane relief road is part of that project.
Work on the road began more than 15 years ago, but it was halted, and Sandy Lane was labelled the “road to nowhere”.
Construction began last year, leading to a closure of the stretch between Kislingbury and Duston.
A reopening date was set for March but that was put back, prompting complaints from residents who faced lengthy diversions, and from businesses who said they had lost passing trade.
