Norcross roundabout: National Highways say they're 'progressing changes' to controversial junction
A controversial roundabout which some drivers have branded ‘dangerous’ is to be changed, says the road authority which oversees it.
There have been a string of complaints about Norcross Roundabout, which sees one of the Fylde coast’s busiest roads - Amounderness Way - join with two sides of another busy road, Fleetwood Road South, in Thornton, and Norcross Lane.
Traffic is heavy as drivers are either coming home from the motorway or travelling to it, with a huge volume of traffic at peak times.
The roundabout junction was redesigned as part of the A585 Norcross Improvement Scheme, with work starting in July 2019 and the altered highway being first open to public traffic on July 22, 2020.
The project involved a £5 million investment by Highways England to transform the five-arm junction by constructing a new roundabout island, adding traffic lights, and improving crossing points for cyclists and pedestrians.
But the altered roundabout – with its new alignments of lanes and the introduction of traffic lights – soon became problematic, with drivers either getting confused by the layout or making dangerous manoeuvres to switch lanes.
There have been a number of accidents and drivers have also reported some frightening near misses as drivers jockey to get in the right lanes.
Last month, Blackpool North and Fleetwood MP Lorraine Beavers said action needed to be taken, as the roundabout was “dangerus”.
Now National Highways says it is doing just that, which changes on the way.
This week a spokesperson for National Highways said: “We are progressing changes to the road markings on the junction and a reduction in the speed limit on the northbound approach.
“This is currently with our designers, and we expect the changes to be completed this financial year."
It follows the introduction of traffic survey cameras at the roundabout last November, as the highways nbody investigated why the junction has become an accident hotspot.
The roundabout project was the forerunner to another major undertaking, the £162m A585 Windy Harbour Bypass scheme, which was aimed at curbing chronic congestion but has also been criticised by some drivers for not properly solving that issue.