Roadworks have been ongoing on the A582 for the last couple of years

Enraged motorists are being asked for patience as work on the A582’s new junction nears completion.

What was previously a roundabout at Pope Lane in Penwortham now has traffic lights.

Andrew Taylor said: “It’s added an average of 20 minutes onto my journey into work, in the city centre, in the mornings.

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“One morning, despite setting off at 7.30am, it took half an hour to get from the big tank roundabout on Flensburg Way at Leyland to the Brown Hare at Penwortham. That’s about half-a-mile.”

The roundabout is now a crossroads and Mr Taylor said he thought the going from two lanes into one was causing a lot of the delays.

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Jacqui Edwards, who lives in Old Pope Lane in Whitestake, has questioned the aim of the roadworks.

She said: “Prior to the installation of the new lights at the junction of Pope Lane and Penwortham Way, in the mornings around 8.15am the traffic was usually backed up to around Newgate Lane.

“Since the lights were switched on the traffic frequently backs up to Cage Lane and Old Pope Lane.

“I have tried to go via Chain House Lane but the traffic seems to be moving much slower on Penwortham Way.

“My journey time has increased by 10 minutes since before the works.

“I am really concerned about how this new junction is slowing traffic down and causing more congestion and pollution than previously.

“On the way home the traffic is almost more congested coming out of Preston on the bypass up to the Brown Hare.

“I have written to Lancashire County Council to express my concerns.”

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Work on the Pope Lane junction, and the A582 in general, is part of the City Deal, with sections of the road being widened to try and create a dual carriageway from the city centre to the M65 junction at Cuerden.

The A582 works are part of the City Deal for Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire with £434million being spent on new roads and housing.

Project manager for the City Deal Infrastructure Delivery Team Phill Wilson said: “The improvement work at the junction on Pope Lane is still being completed, with some finishing work required before all lanes are open. We’re expecting that this should be completed within the next few days.

“This will provide additional capacity on the junction, as part of our plans to widen the A582.

“We’ll continue to monitor the timing of the new traffic signals, to make sure that they’re working efficiently once the new system is up and running.”

Do you use the A582? Let us know what you think about the new Pope Lane junction in the comments below

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