Green for go as major Burnley junction work set to be completed after more than a year

Work has been underway since November 2019 on a project to widen the junction of Accrington Road, Rosegrove Lane and Rossendale Road close to junction 9 of the M65 to manage traffic congestion as the local economy grows over the coming years.

The final stage of work to set up new intelligent traffic signals will begin on Monday, after which the temporary lights which have been in place throughout the project will be removed.

The Burnley Express first reported about the scheme in October, 2019, when it was revealed that one of the major crossroads in Burnley was to be affected for a year.

Lancashire County Council is asking people to be patient at first as the signals will only reach maximum efficiency after they have 'learned' to respond to traffic patterns as they alter throughout the day.

The council is also asking people to take extra care due to the new road layout at the junction.

Phil Durnell, director of highways and transport for Lancashire County Council, said: "The major improvement scheme at Rosegrove is due to be finished next week.

"I would ask people to bear with us until the new traffic signals are fully optimised, and take particular care due to the new layout of the junction, but people should soon experience the benefits to their journeys as this junction begins to work more efficiently.

"This project has been a particular engineering challenge as a large number of services and utilities passed through this junction and had to be rerouted to allow the highway improvements to take place. Coordinating this has been complex and time-consuming, however it will mean less disruption in the future as these services can now be accessed more easily without the need for road closures.

"Because Rosegrove is such a busy junction the work over the past 17 months to put these improvements in place has been disruptive, and we're very grateful for the patience and understanding which people have shown."

David Taylor CBE DL, chairman of Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, said: "I am delighted that the LEP was able to support these essential improvement works. This is a great example of Growth Deal funding in action - improving vital infrastructure, easing congestion and supporting economic growth."

Some further work will also continue in the area as minor tasks are finished in the coming weeks as part of the junction improvements. Work will also be ongoing over the coming months to divert a sewer pipe within the embankment next to Accrington Road, which will then allow the embankment to be regraded and a temporary retaining wall to be removed. However any tasks which affect traffic on Accrington Road will be carried out off-peak to minimise congestion.

The £3m scheme is one of the final parts of a programme of improvements to junctions and nearby local roads from Junction 7 at Accrington to Junction 13 at Barrowford, known as the Hyndburn-Burnley-Pendle Growth Corridor.

The programme worth more than £12m in total is part of the £320m Growth Deal secured from government by the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and includes contributions from Lancashire County Council and Burnley, Pendle and Hyndburn councils. A contribution to the work at Rosegrove has also come from the Department for Transport's local pinch point fund.