Major road works finally underway

Work to widen a major commuter road and roundabout has finally restarted after months of delays.
Pope Lane roundaboutPope Lane roundabout
Pope Lane roundabout

The conversion of the existing A582 roundabout at Pope Lane, Penwortham, into a traffic signal-controlled ‘crossroad’ junction had to be stopped in October because of the location of pylons.

Lancashire County Council (LCC) was slammed for poor planning, as previous widening of the A582 just metres away was also held up because of a legal wrangle over a pub’s beer garden.

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LCC said the problem at Pope Lane only became clear during preparatory work and changes will now be made to how the scheme is carried out. Details on this have not been made available, but there will not be any changes to either the layout or the pylons themselves.

Pope Lane roundaboutPope Lane roundabout
Pope Lane roundabout

Phill Wilson, project manager, said: “We had a short hold-up to the plans, due to an unforeseen issue, but our engineers have looked into it and found a solution.

“We’re pleased to have sorted this and look forward to the work starting again soon.

We’ll do all we can to minimize the disruption from these improvements. People will need to allow extra travel time in this area while this work is carried out.

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“The A582 has suffered from significant congestion at peak times, so our aim is to increase road capacity and reduce congestion.”

Pope Lane roundaboutPope Lane roundabout
Pope Lane roundabout

The work will provide additional lanes on each of the four approaches, creating extra capacity. It will also create new safer crossings for cyclists and pedestrians. The project is now expected to be completed by summer next year.

The project is part of plans to widen the entire length of the A582, from the end of the M65 across South Ribble towards Preston. The work is being paid for as part of the £450m City Deal.