Motorists caught up in roadworks taking place between Preston, Goosnargh and Longridge have spoken of their frustration.

The eastern side of Preston has been turned into a slow-moving crawl through Grimsargh and Goosnargh as multiple sets of works take place at once.

Bluebell Way and Preston Road are regularly turned into a car park at all hours of the day as work to lay an energy cable in Longridge Road for a new factory at Roman Way industrial estate takes place.

Read more: Timeline given for when four busy Preston junctions see traffic light roadworks

Blog Preston has been contacted by drivers who are left furious at their journeys going from 20-30 minutes to in some cases taking nearly two hours at peak times.

Sophie Angell told Blog Preston: “The traffic on Preston Road has got increasingly worse as more new housing has been built without an any additional investment in infrastructure.

“For all intents and purposes there’s one road in and one road out, so when you add lengthy day time roadworks to the mix it’s a recipe for a disaster.

“Today it took me 45 minutes to travel a mile and it’s expected that these works will continue for the next five weeks. The alternative country road options are dangerous in cold weather, evidenced by an accident this morning as traffic is forced down longer alternative routes.”

Another motorist, who works at Bluebell Way and commutes from Clitheroe, described their journey during Tuesday.

He said: “This morning was completely shambolic and probably the worst example of traffic management I’ve ever experienced. It took me 1hr 30mins to get from Clitheroe into work. Traffic backed up a long way in all directions. I can’t imagine businesses are too impressed with state of things.”

The 1 bus route, operated by Stagecoach, has also been significantly affected by the delays – with some passengers reporting the bus running more than an hour behind schedule at some points in the day.

The works in Longridge Road are due to continue until mid-February and have been compounded by roadworks on the route between Broughton and Longridge at the same time – leaving drivers with only a potential route down an icy Haighton Green Lane onto Eastway instead.

Roadworks by Electricity North West are taking place in Back Cumeragh Lane and The Square in Whittingham in Goosnagh and are running until the end of January.

While work is also taking place in Broughton on Whittingham Lane close to the Italian Orchard restaurant and Langley Lane junction.

Site meetings take place over Longridge Road work

Lancashire County Council defended the work taking place on Longridge Road and its approach to multiple sets of roadworks taking place at once.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “Harlaxton Energy Networks have begun work on Longridge Road at the 31a junction – Longridge into Preston to create a mains connection to a new development.

“Traffic is being managed manually using temporary traffic lights from 7am to 7pm to keep things flowing as well as possible.

“There have been several site meetings with officers from Harlaxton and our officers to plan this work, which is being completed in sections to minimise disruption wherever possible.

“While the work is disruptive in the short term, it supports the development of businesses on the industrial estate and local jobs.

“We hope that the work can be completed by mid February.”

Blog Preston contacted Harlaxton for comment – and to clarify if the ‘manual controls’ they had spoken of ahead of the work taking place were being implemented – but received no response by the time of publication.

The county council also confirmed works due to take place in Ribbleton Avenue running through to Longridge Road had been delayed due to the cold weather.

A spokesperson said: “We are undertaking resurfacing patching works starting today (January 8).

“Our team are moving in sections towards Longridge Road and the distance between the Harlaxton works and the LCC resurfacing team will remain the same to ensure there is no clash as the Harlaxton team are also following a set route.

“We are using stop and go boards during this job to ensure that traffic is constantly flowing. Works will only take place during off peak times 09:30-15:00. However due the recent severe weather these works have been delayed. No dates have been agreed though given the minimal impact it is likely these will go ahead in the very near future.”

Why can’t work be done at other times?

Motorists have been questioning why the work didn’t take place during the Christmas holidays or only at weekends or overnight.

Blog Preston put these questions to the county council, who are responsible for enforcing roadwork restrictions on utility companies and accepting applications to carry out highways works.

They said: “We always ensure that we manage the network to minimise disruption and allow utility companies and our own teams to facilitate regeneration and ongoing utility works.

“This depends on the location and we will carry out overnight and weekend work where possible.

“We aim to push major works into the school holidays including the February and May half terms to minimise disruption however this is not always possible.

“We do not allow any works to be completed over the Christmas period to minimise disruption for residents who may be travelling for festive activities and shopping as well as day to day activities.”

The county council spokesperson urged drivers to check the LCC’s One Network site which listed all upcoming works.

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