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One of Preston’s busiest stretches of road is set to see almost two months of roadworks.
Traffic lights at the Ringway and Stanley Street junction with Church Street, near the city’s prison, are to be upgraded.
Lancashire County Council say the traffic signals, some of which date back to the 1970s, are becoming increasingly difficult to maintain.
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Some of the most disruptive elements are due to take place overnight from Sunday to Thursdays from 7pm to 6am, but signs warning of disruption both day and night at the junction which is one of the most congested in the city.
Work is due to begin on Sunday 2 March and will last between six to eight weeks depends on progress made.
A spokesperson for the county council told Blog Preston: “The intention is that the existing permanent traffic lights will remain in use for most of the works, however a period of temporary traffic light operation will be required towards the end of the project to enable specific activities to be completed safely. It will also allow the old signal equipment to be decommissioned and new equipment be installed. This later phase will be kept as short as possible.
“The exact amount of time to undertake the work depends on the conditions encountered once the ground is broken to begin installing the new below ground infrastructure. As well as replacing the existing signal equipment, the existing signal-controlled pedestrian facilities will be updated to bring them up to the latest standards.”
It’s the second of what will be five major traffic light upgrades to some of the city’s busiest junctions during this year. The first set of work took place at the Moor Lane and North Road junction throughout January and February.
Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “We have completed the first of this yea’s major traffic light replacement works slightly ahead of schedule thanks to the hard work of all parties involved, particularly given the conditions faced during the works.
“It is important for Lancashire County Council to carefully plan these works and undertake these before the situation becomes critical, such as hardware or cable failure. By taking proactive action, we hope to reduce disruption for years or decades to come.
“We’re also going to bring the existing controlled pedestrian facilities at these locations up to modern standard and make them more accessible for blind and partially sighted users.
“This is a significant investment in new technology and is part of an ongoing programme to renew outdated traffic light assets across the county.
“We would like to thank people for their continued patience throughout these essential works and to allow additional time for their journeys and/or seek alternative routes where possible.”
Further works are also to take place at the Garstang Road, Aqueduct Street and St George’s Road crossroads starting on Monday 3 March and then later this year at the junctions on Garstang Road by Moor Park and then by the Black Bull pub in Fulwood.
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