National Highways planning redesign of Thornton's notorious Norcross roundabout

National Highways say the changes will see a redesign of the notorious roundabout, with work expected to begin later this year and to be completed by April 2026.

Changes could include new lane markings and lane destination signage, as well as changes to signal timings and the possibility of a reduced speed limit on the northbound approach.

Traffic survey cameras were installed at the roundabout in Thornton last November, as National Highways investigated why the junction has become an accident hotspot.

To better understand drivers’ behaviour at the roundabout, the survey aimed to provide a detailed record of traffic activity - measuring the volume of traffic, junction and lane movements, queue lengths and speeds on approach to the roundabout.

Join our WhatsApp Community to get the latest news and top stories from across Lancashire directly to your phone

The results were expected in December, but National Highways said there were “unforeseen issues with the survey cameras”. It meant a new survey was required, which is ongoing and the results are expected by the end of April.

National Highways did not say what the “unforeseen issues” were which had led to the delay.

What will change?

National Highways said it is “committed” to making changes at the roundabout “as soon as we realistically can”.

A spokesperson for the agency said: “We are considering various options at Norcross, including changes to lane markings, lane destination signage, signal timings and the feasibility of providing a reduced speed limit on the northbound approach.

“Unfortunately, we have encountered a delay in the modelling work. We need to carry out further traffic modelling of the junction to determine what amendments can be made to the layout.

“While we expected to have the necessary survey results by December, an additional survey was required due to some unforeseen issues with the survey cameras. Regrettably, the need for an extra survey does mean that the modelling is still ongoing.

“We now expect the modelling to be completed by the end of April 2025.

“Once we have the results from the traffic modelling, and a design is finalised, we will then conduct a Road Safety Audit and process any traffic regulation orders.

“This does take time, however, we do expect the changes to Norcross roundabout to be completed within the next financial year (2025/2026).”