Plans for a vital new £12m link road to serve the Horwich Loco Works housing development are due to be submitted to Bolton Council.
The road will link the £262 million Rivington Chase scheme to Middlebrook Retail Park, Horwich Parkway railway station and junction six of the M61.
It will be funded from a national government grant, which the council successfully bid for and funding was approved last year.
The 150-acre site received outline planning permission for 1,700 new homes, retail and leisure facilities in September 2015.
And work on the first phase – a Bellway Housing development for 112 homes built at the entrance of the site – has started.
The development is named ‘Barton Quarter’ and homes are now on sale with the show homes anticipated to open next month.
Rivington Chase is being developed by Bluemantle in partnership with Bolton Council, Homes England, and Network Rail.
Executive Cabinet Member for Strategic Housing, Cllr Martin Donaghy, said: “We worked very hard to secure government funding for the road and I’m pleased that the planning application is now due to be submitted.
“The link road is absolutely crucial to provide a new infrastructure to take pressure off other roads in the area.
“We always promised we would address residents’ concerns about site access and this new road, should it receive planning approval, will benefit the whole community.
Mark Caldwell, from Bluemantle, added: “The forthcoming planning application will deliver the key site wide infrastructure that’s needed including main road, remediation and public open space.
“All the landowners have worked hard on this and we all understand how essential the road is for the community.
“As well as the road, we are looking at a new footpath, cycle links and green space, which will transform Rivington Chase making it a fantastic place to live and connect Horwich town centre to Middlebrook.”
A planning application is expected to be submitted this month.