Highways England to start £5 million works on the A585 junction in Lancashire

Highways England to start £5 million works on the A585 junction in Lancashire

Highways England’s £5 million project to transform Norcross roundabout – one of the busiest junctions along the A585 in Lancashire – will hit top gear from Saturday (31 August).

And to help businesses, residents, commuters and other road users stay in touch with progress on the improvement and the different phases of roadworks, a text alert system and weekly public drop-in sessions have been launched.

The £5 million investment started in July with preparation work. Now the first phase of main construction work is starting – on Saturday – with the closure of the junction at Fleetwood Road South, south of the roundabout, for about six weeks.

The major improvement to the five ‘arm’ roundabout involves putting traffic lights at the roundabout to improve crossings and providing more room on the approaches to the junction – making journeys safer, smoother and fairer for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

Highways England project manager Jan De Jong said: “We’re now entering the main, seven month, construction phase and we are doing everything we can to minimise disruption. People used to accessing the junction from the southern section of Fleetwood Road South should use the official diversion route over the next few weeks.

“We are really keen to keep people informed and encourage road users to sign up to the text alert system, visit the project webpage or come and talk to us at one of our weekly drop-in sessions at Thornton Methodist Church.”

The closure of the southern section of Fleetwood Road South will last until Monday 16 October with a second short closure required near the end of the project between Tuesday 3 and Friday 6 March. The other phases of work involve:

• Closing Fleetwood Road South (northern section) between Monday 21 October and Friday 13 December and again between Monday 24 February and Wednesday 26 February
• Closing Norcross Lane between Monday 13 January and Friday 21 February and again between Thursday 27 February and Monday 2 March
• Completing the project with work in the new roundabout’s centre island – with no road closures – between Thursday 5 March and Tuesday 31 March.

All the closures will be in place around the clock throughout the working periods but the A585 itself will remain open at all times.

The weekly drop-in sessions at Thornton Methodist Church will be held between 10am and 12 noon every Friday.

Anyone wishing to sign up to the free text alert system should send a text message from their device with the message A585 Norcross to 07860 048846. Terms and conditions for the service are explained in a new scheme leaflet which has been delivered to houses in the Norcross area. This is also available at local libraries and post offices and Thornton Methodist Church. The leaflet, which diversion route maps, can also be viewed online at the project webpage. Regular project updates by email are also available via the project webpage.

The scheme is funded from a national £220 million congestion relief programme to tackle traffic ‘hotspots’, with more than £27 million being spent in the North West. As well as the project at Norcross roundabout other work includes:

• a £1 million project to improve the A595 and A66 Fitz roundabout near Cockermouth in Cumbria
• £1.6 million for widening the A595 and A66 junction at Great Clifton near Workington
• £800,000 to improve the roundabout traffic lights where the A585 meets the M55 at junction 3 just outside Blackpool
• £21 million for smaller-scale improvements across the North West

Once the new Norcross roundabout has opened, work can then begin on a £100 million new A585 bypass between Windy Harbour and Skippool.