Member Article

£8m scheme to reduce congestion on Preston access route

Work will start in South Ribble this spring to cut congestion on a key route into Preston. The £8m scheme will help to reduce journey times on the A582 in South Ribble with two phases of work to take place from May 2014 to September 2014 and from October 2014 to March 2015. The work is part of plans to increase capacity on vital routes outlined in Lancashire County Council’s Highways and Transport Masterplan for the area, and one of four major highway schemes to receive funding under the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal. The first phase will see the section of the A582 Golden Way north of Cop Lane widened to a dual carriageway, and increase the number of lanes at the junction with Chain House Lane. To allow these improvements to start in May, preparation work will be carried out in late February to remove trees and hedging within the highway to avoid disturbing nesting birds. Once the improvements are completed in late summer the areas will be landscaped and new foliage will be planted to screen the road from nearby homes. Further congestion-busting work is planned to take place on the A582 from October 2014 to March 2015. Traffic signals will be added to the roundabout at Stanifield Lane, and the section of Golden Way south of Cop Lane to the Broad Oak roundabout will be widened to dual carriageway. County Councillor John Fillis, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The City Deal and further improvements to infrastructure outlined in our transport masterplan are vital to trigger the creation of thousands of new jobs and thousands of new homes over the next decade and I’m very pleased we’re getting started. “We’re keen to deliver the benefits as soon as possible and this work on the A582 will have an immediate impact to relieve current congestion. “We’ve chosen to do this first as the work needed is within the bounds of the existing highway which means it’s more straightforward than other schemes where more extensive planning is needed. “We realise this is a very busy route into Preston and our engineers have given careful thought as to how to carry out the work while keeping disruption to a minimum. In order to minimise disruption, works which may restrict traffic flow will only be undertaken outside peak commuting times.” Environmental surveys will also be carried out on land next to the A582 later in the year. This will allow detailed design work to begin for a further scheme to upgrade the road to dual carriageway along its full length between Cuerden and Preston city centre by 2018/19, including the B5253 spur south to Longmeanygate.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .