New road and roundabout to be built in Fulwood

As reported in last week’s Lancashire Post, a section of Lightfoot Lane will be closed for nine months, to the fury of the people who live there.

Lancashire County Council has now revealed that the reason for the closure is to create a new road leading to the David Wilson Homes development.

The road will be connected to Lightfoot Lane by a new roundabout. Construction of the new route will begin in January and is scheduled to last for nine months.

To prepare for the works, the council will be felling trees along Lightfoot Lane, starting from today.

Phill Wilson, project manager for the City Deal Infrastructure Delivery Team, said: “The removal of these trees is a part of preparations for this work next year. We’re carrying it out at this time as it is outside the bird nesting season and to prevent protected species such as amphibians from hibernating in the undergrowth and tree roots.

“Lightfoot Lane is a busy road and we know that people have been affected by recent work in this area by private contractors. We’ll be carrying out this tree work during off peak times, to reduce the impact on people’s journeys. This new junction will also assist with the future development of the proposed East-West Link Road, a new road that would connect to the proposed Preston Western Distributor.

“The Preston Western Distributor is one of City Deal’s key new roads. It will help people to access new homes developments, reduce congestion and create additional capacity in this part of the road network.”

Residents were initially told their street would be closing on October 1, before the date was pushed back to January.