The A606 bypass was built in 2006, and although this is very recent history, Oakham has a lot to thank the bypass for - including keeping the centre of our Market Town as traffic free as possible for the regular Wednesday and Saturday markets, farmers and craft markets, and occasional community street parties.

Of course, with the bypass has come the development of the outskirts of the town, including the recent addition of a McDonalds as well as the Costa Coffee drive through, set to open in the following months.

From the 4th to the 9th of June, Oakham and the surrounding villages were reminded of the importance of the bypass when it comes to keeping the town quiet though when the roads were closed for Jubilee celebrations and scheduled roadworks.

Traffic built up from Empingham to Melton Mowbray and saw residents struggling with high volumes of traffic that is often prevented by the free running of the bypass.

The A606 is an A road in England that starts in West Bridgford and heads southeastwards through Leicestershire and the towns of Melton Mowbray and Oakham, terminating at Stamford, Lincolnshire, on the former Great North Road.

The Oakham section of the A606, the Oakham bypass, was opened in 2006, and on top of keeping the town as quiet as possible, prevents an even larger build up of traffic by the level crossing - which is a bugbear for many Oakham residents!

The bypass was an initiative of the 66 Highways Agency and local authority bypass schemes, and cost a whopping £11.6M to complete and was done so 2 months ahead of schedule.

Then Rutland and Melton MP Alan Duncan said: "It's going to make a lot of difference to Oakham. I think it will lead to a redesign of the centre of Oakham, so that it can keep its character as a market town, so people can walk around and not bump into a 10-ton lorry."

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Do you think it worked, and Oakham kept its charm?

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