The Ringway and North Road junction

One of Preston’s busiest junctions is to be subject to five months of roadworks from mid-July.

Where the Ringway joins North Road, overlooked by the Holiday Inn and Preston’s Crown Court, is often a bottleneck.

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Lancashire County Council is to spend £1 million on adding “intelligent” traffic signals, cycle lanes, new street lighting and improved pedestrian crossings.

Work starts on Monday 14 July and is expected to be finished during December.

The county council have vowed work which affects traffic will only be done outside peak hours.

Jennifer Mein, leader of Lancashire County Council, said: “This junction is a major gateway into Preston and these improvements will help to keep traffic moving as well as making it much more accessible to cyclists and pedestrians.

“The scheme will complement the recent improvements to other junctions on Ringway and the major investment on Fishergate to make central Preston a more welcoming place for residents, visitors and businesses.

“This work also prepares for predicted increases in traffic which will result as the city continues to grow and we need to ensure our transport network is functioning as efficiently as possible.

“We’re sorry for any disruption while the work takes place, but we’ll be keeping this to a minimum by ensuring any work that affects traffic is done outside of peak times.”

New shrubs and trees are expected to be planted as part of the works.

Sequencing of the lights will change depending on how busy the city centre traffic is, and synchronise with other junctions on the Ringway to help traffic flow.

£400,000 for the scheme has come from central government’s Local Sustainable Transport Fund.

Work starts fully on Monday 14 July, with work beginning today to construct a compound near the junction to store equipment.

Will this affect you? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below