Drivers fume at long delays

Three-way temporary traffic lights at the junction of Clifton Drive North and Highbury Road have led to lengthy tailbacks – not just on Clifton Drive North itself but on Queensway as drivers turned to the only other direct route.

One angry motorist who lives in St Annes and works in Blackpool said: “It took me an hour to get from Morrisons in Squires Gate Lane to home and 45 minutes to get to work across Queensway. Traffic has been backing up along Kilnhouse Lane from before 8am. It’s so frustrating.”

Bev Wood, chairman of the St Annes Enterprise Partnership said: “The traffic hold ups coming from Blackpool – and the main motorway routes – into St Annes have been causing very long tailbacks at all times of the day and are definitely impacting businesses as staff travel times alone are being affected. I think everyone appreciates that essential roadworks need to be undertaken but there are other ways to access St Annes and perhaps diversions or alternative routing would help with managing the congestion.”

Harvey Danson, highways manager for Lancashire County Council, said: “We’ve been carrying out essential repairs and maintenance to the drainage system on Clifton Drive North.

“We encountered poor ground conditions, which came to light during the work and as a consequence we haven’t been able to complete all the work.

“We will need to carry out further repairs and will schedule this during half-term in February when the road is less busy.

“We have been doing all we can to ease congestion. We apologise for any inconvenience these roadworks have caused.”