A notorious double roundabout in South Ribble has come a step closer to being ripped up and replaced with high-tech traffic lights designed to improve journeys on one of busiest roads in the borough. The current layout of the A582 – at the point where Flensburg Way, Farington Road, Croston Road and Centurion Way all meet – is one of the junctions in line for a major overhaul as part of a revamp of the regularly congested route between Lostock Hall and Penwortham.
Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has given the green light to spending £6m on the next phase of the £68m South Ribble Western Distributor project – even though there is no guarantee that the government will stump up the lion’s share of the funding needed to make it a reality. That decision will not be made until the completion of the ongoing Whitehall spending review in the spring.
However, county council cabinet member for economic development and growth Aidy Riggott said it was “crucial” that preparation work continued between now and then in order to ensure the scheme could be delivered in a timely fashion if and when the government cash is confirmed. As the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed last week, Lancashire highways bosses want to plough on with the project so that it can continue to be aligned with related work planned as part of the nearby Lancashire Central logistics and leisure development at Cuerden.
The preparations will include the drawing up of compulsory purchase orders for the land needed for the radical redesign planned for the twin roundabout junction – should it not prove possible to acquire the plots by agreement with their current owners. Moss Side and Farington division county councillor Michael Green told the cabinet meeting at which the decision was made that the present set-up created a “pinchpoint”.
“You get clearance to get onto one roundabout and then you have to stop to get onto the second [one] – and that causes congestion. A new layout which allows movement through in one [go] should be able to reduce that – and the experts have modelled this and [shown] it will increase capacity and…the flow [of traffic],” County Cllr Green said.
One of the A582 junctions set for an upgrade – the pair of roundabouts where Farington Road, Flensburg Way and Croston Road all meet
(Image: Copyright Unknown)
The proposed reconfiguration will result in three T-shaped, signal-controlled junctions whose traffic lights will create a co-ordinated ‘green wave’ for vehicles travelling along the route. New technology will also detect lorries approaching the junction and ensure the traffic light sequence gives them priority – reducing the need for HGVs to decelerate.
The kit is expected to improve journey times for all drivers, reduce carbon emissions and provide easier access to Lancashire Business Park. The junctions will also be designed to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
One bike-rider – county Labour group opposition leader and Leyland Central representative Matthew Tominson – said the changes could not come a moment too soon.
“That’s is the bit [of tg A582] that you dread and…avoid at peak times as a cyclist,” he said.
County Cllr Tomlinson added that he was pleased the authority still had a long-term aspiration to turn the entire 3.2-mile stretch of the A582 between South Ribble and Preston into a dual carriageway, but said it was “clearly going to take a lot longer than any of us would have wished for”.
A report presented to the cabinet revealed there were 382 responses to a public consultation carried out into the planned A582 junction revamps – including the removal of the roundabout at Stanfield Lane, Lostock Lane and Farington Road and its replacement with a signal-controlled crossroads. A summary of the opinions expressed has not yet been published, but County Cllr Green said members of the public attending drop-in events had made some “vigorous” comments about the suite of proposals, which also include traffic-calming and bus-priority measures along Leyland Road and Watkin Lane, the B5254.
County Cllr Riggott said the responses were being “fed into the final design process”. Work will now begin on the development of a final business case to present to the government, which was said to have given “positive indications” in response to an outline plan last year.
The county council has previously committed £19m in match funding for the project, from which the £6m now expected to be spent in the coming months will be drawn.
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