Junction 32 and 33 on the M6 motorway are currently closed in both directions due to a crash.
Police anticipate this will be closed for some time, and ask drivers to find an alternative route where possible.
LIVE UPDATES: M6 closed in both directions a…
Junction 32 and 33 on the M6 motorway are currently closed in both directions due to a crash.
Police anticipate this will be closed for some time, and ask drivers to find an alternative route where possible.
LIVE UPDATES: M6 closed in both directions a…
Glasson Dock near Lancaster is a hub for shipping, boats and yachts. But it has suffered from broken infrastructure since last year.
It connects the Irish Sea, the River Lune estuary, Glasson Marina and Lancaster Canal.
Sea gate problems have hit port …
Edith Rigby Way: A year on from city’s £207m road opening | Blog Preston
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Edith Rigby Way: A year on from city’s £207m road opening
Posted on – 15th July, 2024 – 7:00am | Author – Ed Walker | Posted in – Ashton-on-Ribble, Cottam, I…
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Traffic has backed up on the M6 and top of the M55 after the M6 was closed in both directions near Preston due to a police incident.
National Highways said the ca…
Click here [1]to view terms and conditions. An advertisement from Elite Competitions By Rebecca Lawrence For Mailonline[2] Published: 10:12, 7 June 2024 | Updated: 10:26, 7 June 2024
With the cost of living crisis fina…
TWO major motorways are set to see closures this Bank Holiday weekend sparking travel chaos for millions of Britons.
Carriageways, slip-roads and link roads on the M25[1], both in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, will be affected by the planned works in the coming days.
2
Britons are set to face travel chaos this weekend (pictured: M4 on April 29)Credit: Alamy
And closures are also set to hit the M20[2] this weekend, causing worry for anyone planning to make a cross-country trip during the three-day break.
The RAC[3] is warning that more than 16million drivers are set to hit the roads for the May Bank Holiday Weekend, with getaway traffic building from today before peaking tomorrow at 3.3million journeys.
Another 2.3million getaway trips are planned for Sunday, May 5, with 2.6million planned for Monday, 6 May, according to analysis by RAC and INRIX.
And 5.6million trips are expected to be made at some point over the weekend by drivers who are yet to decide which day to travel, the organisations say.
Today is set to be the worst day for hold-ups, with delays on major routes expected to take 13% longer than usual.
Amid the great national getaway, National Highways[4] warns of M20 maintenance works for the moveable barrier in place along the motorway between Jct 9 for Ashford and Jct 8 for Maidstone and Leeds Castle.
More than 16m drivers are set to hit the roads for the first bank holiday weekend in May with traffic well above pre-COVID levels, according to research from the RAC and transport analytics specialists, INRIX.
The study suggests getaway traffic will begin to build on Friday, May 3, before peaking the following day at 3.3million journeys.
Another 2.3million and 2.6million separate getaway trips are planned on Sunday, May 5 and Monday, May 6 respectively.
Another 5.6million are expected to be made at some point over the weekend by drivers still deciding which day to travel.
Transport experts INRIX advise drivers to avoid setting off between 11am and 6pm today, 9am and 2pm on Saturday, and 10am and 3pm on both the Sunday and Monday.
Throughout the weekend, the best times to travel will be before 9am and after 5pm.
Today is set to be the worst day for hold-ups, with delays on major routes expected to take 13% longer than usual.
Most major routes across the south and south west are likely to take an average of 50% longer than usual to drive on Friday afternoon, research shows.
On Bank Holiday Monday, parts of the north west, East Anglia and south west will be hardest hit by returning traffic.
Jams are predicted to hit the M55 eastbound between Blackpool and Preston from 11am, Cornwall to Exeter eastbound on the A30 and A38 from 11.30am and Norwich to Thetford on the A11 southbound from 12.15pm.
According to the RAC, the best times to travel include:
The worst times to travel are:
The works will include de-tensioning the barrier along with maintenance of the expansion blocks.
The means the M20 London-bound carriageway will shut overnight on Saturday, May 4, and Sunday, May 5, betweens Jct 9 and Jct 8, Kent Live[5] reports.
The closures will last between 8pm each night and 6am the following morning.
Two lanes of the ccoast-bound carriageway along this stretch of the M20 will also shut down during this time.
UK weather: May bank holiday forecast revealed by Met Office with warnings over heavy rain – but there’s some good news
Meanwhile, the M25 clockwise Jct 26 link road to M11 southbound Jct 6 will be closed starting from 10pm on Saturday, May 4 until 5.30am on Sunday, May 5.
The M25 anti-clockwise Jct 27 link road to M11 southbound Jct 6 will also be affected for the same length of time.
Diversions will be via local authority and National Highways routes, News Shopper[6] reports.
Other sections of the M25 anti-clockwise set to be closed unclude the Jct 23 exit slip road, Jct 24 exit and entry slip roads, Jct 25 entry slip road, and Jct 25 to Jct 23 carriageway,
THE RAC has revealed the worst day to go on the road this bank holiday as it warned 16 million Brits of travel “mayhem”.
Research by the organisation[7] and transport analytics firm INRIX[8] suggests that traffic will be “well above pre-Covid levels” despite an “unsettled” weather forecast.
The first of two May bank holidays, the weekend is a traditional staycation rush for UK drivers.
A whopping 16 million of them are expected to clog up major roads across a four day period from Friday to Monday.
Analysis from the RAC[9] suggests that Saturday May 4 will be the worst day for congestion, with an estimated 3.3 million journeys taking place.
A further 2.3 million are set to travel on Sunday as well as another 2.6 million on Monday.
However, that doesn’t account for a wild card set of 5.6 million journeys expected to be taken at some point across the weekend, with drivers still working out exactly when they will make their way.
That’s despite a relatively uncertain weather forecast which could see the holiday turn into a damp squib for some.
The Met Office is predicting “unsettled” conditions for much of the country, with a chance of rain, especially in southern parts.
The forecast for the weekend reads: “A fairly uncertain period through the bank holiday weekend with more likely a warm but cloudy period with bright spells, greatest in the north and showers more likely in the south.
“However there is also potential for a more unsettled spell to spread from the west with fresh winds and bands of rain mid-weekend, signals still unclear regards this.”
Nonetheless, temperatures are set to remain fairly mild, with highs of around 18C in London on Sunday and most other regions seeing the mercury reach the mid-teens across much of the weekend.
Fortunately for motorists, the RAC was also able to reveal the exact times to avoid if you don’t want to get caught up in the “mayhem”.
As you might expect, the best times to set off are before 9am or after 5pm, with Friday expected to see the worst of the delays.
And the organization urged drivers to give select routes a wide berth thanks to excessive traffic.
The M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton is predicted to be the worst hit, with estimated delays of over two hours on Friday afternoon.
Similarly, the M53 southbound from Liverpool to Chester could see Brits sitting in their cars for an extra 45 minutes.
Major routes across the South and South West could see journey times increase by half too, with particular hotspots on the M55 A30 and A38 from Cornwall to Exeter.
RAC Breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “With COVID travel restrictions a thing of the past, catching up with friends and family is still the first priority for nearly half of drivers making leisure trips over the bank holiday.
“Since 2022 – the first full year since mobility restrictions lifted – drivers appear to be much more eager to make the most of the May Day weekend, with the total number of getaway trips this year far exceeding the average since 2017.
“We’re anticipating a ‘crescendo of cars’ on the road over the weekend with as many as three million motorists making leisure trips on Saturday alone.
“In addition to the majority of motorists planning day trips and short breaks, our data shows local routes to city and out-of-town shopping centres could see heavy traffic[10], so it’s best to head out early morning or evening if possible.”
Bob Pishure, transportation analyst for INRIX, added: “Although delays won’t be as severe as Easter, drivers should expect the lengthiest hold-ups on major roads to and from popular destinations this weekend.
“Delays will likely peak on Friday afternoon with some areas seeing usual travel times double as holiday drivers vie for space on the roads with commuters.”
On Sunday, May 5 a number of the closures will start again at 10pm, lasting again until 5.30am on Bank Holiday Monday, May 6.
This includes the M25 clockwise Jct 26 link road to M11 southbound Jct 6, and M26 anti-clockwise Jct 27 link road to M11 southbound Jct 6.
The entire Jct 23 to Jct 25 carriageway will be closed from 10pm Sunday to 5.30am Monday, including the Jct 23 to Jct 25 carriageway,
The Jct 23 entry slip road will also be affected, along with the Jct 24 exit and entry slip roads, and Jct 25 clockwise exit slip road.
2
Slough, April 29, 2024. Britons could face delays to their journeys this weekendCredit: Alamy
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A collision involving a pedestrian and a vehicle closed the M6 northbound near Preston.
The northbound carriageway was closed near junction 32 (Broughton) and the…
Latest traffic and travel news, information and updates for Lancashire and surrounding areas. We’ll bring you everything you need to know about travel by road, rail, air or sea including updates about public transport. Includes live breaking news cove…
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Police who stopped a driver on the motorway were stunned after discovering he was using an expired provisional licence – SIXTY YEARS after failing his test. The silver Citroen was pulled over by officers on the M55 on Boxing Day.
And after asking to se…
Major changes to the layout and operation of a busy road leading to the M6 in Preston have been given the green light.
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A redesign of Bluebell Way, on the approach to junction 31A of the motorway – the Preston[2] East and Longridge exit – was demanded by highways bosses in order to accommodate the traffic expected to be generated by the expansion of a nearby industrial estate. New traffic lights will also be installed on another route in the vicinity.
The proposal for a dozen warehouse-style units and a new spine road to access them – on land at Roman Road Farm, off Longridge Road – had been held up for more than a year after National Highways[3] raised concern over the potential impact of the scheme on the operation of the motorway junction, which is already beyond capacity.
However, the organisation lifted its holding objection after the firm behind the plans – Henry Boot Barnfield (Roman Way) Limited – set out the works it would fund to offset the added traffic pressure that would be put on the Bluebell Way roundabout, from which the southbound M6 is accessed at the location.
The single-lane entry slip road to the M6 southbound at junction 31A (image: Google)
New motorway service area planned for Preston at start of M55 link road
The short existing stretch of left-turn lane for traffic entering the motorway at that point will be extended to become a full “auxiliary lane” – providing a greater degree of separation between M6-bound traffic and the other two lanes bound for the B6242, the first of which also provides access to the petrol station just off the roundabout.
National Highways – which is responsible for the motorway network and major A routes – noted in a consultation response to Preston City Council, that the overhaul was “in no way a comprehensive solution to the congestion experienced on the surrounding local network in this location”.
However, it acknowledged that the change would shorten queues on Bluebell Way eastbound by creating more “stacking space” in which vehicles could wait – and allow motorists to pass through the junction in less time. The city authority’s planning committee gave the go-ahead to the industrial development, after the objection was dropped.
It’s already a notorious spot for queues at peak times (image: Google)
The details of the design – which will include the removal of an off-highway bus stop bay and the incorporation of the stop into the live traffic lane – will have to be finalised with Lancashire County Council, as the highways authority responsible for Bluebell Way.
County Hall has also agreed to in-principle plans to install traffic lights on Longridge Road, where it meets Roman Way at the entrance to the Roman Way industrial estate – and the widening of the junction in the process.
Without that change, papers presented to the planning committee noted that there would be “high delays” for traffic leaving Roman Way – especially those wanting to turn right.
Committee member Harry Landless said that traffic in the area was already “terrible” – and that he could only foresee it getting worse.
Traffic lights are set for the Roman Way and Longridge Road junction (image: Google)
“This road is absolutely horrendous in the morning and late afternoon. If you try and get a bus from Longridge down into town, it takes an extra half hour [as] the bus is invariably delayed because of the traffic problems already caused by these industrial estates,” Cllr Landless said.
While stating that he would not “stand in the way” of the application, he bemoaned that in order for traffic impact to have “any influence on a planning decision, the road has to be at a complete standstill all day”.
National Highways’ consultation response revealed that consideration had been given to an alternative scheme for the junction 31A roundabout which, in addition to the extra lane on the Bluebell Way, would have seen a second lane added to the M6 southbound entry slip road, which is currently single file.
The merger point for southbound traffic at junction 31A of the M6 is already problematic at the busiest times of day – so could it prevent further industrial development in the vicinity? (image: Google)
However, that set-up would have required the two slip road lanes to merge with each other shortly before the resulting single lane then joined the main carriageway, as per the present layout – a scenario that National Highways assessed would likely have led to “vehicle collisions”.
The only way around that would have been to maintain two lanes on the slip road all the way to the merger point with the southbound traffic – and that would have required a widening of the bridge which carries the M6 over Bluebell Way, which would have been so costly as to make the industrial estate proposal financially unviable.
National Highways also issued a warning about the deteriorating operation of the southbound M6 around junction 31A, with “slow-moving traffic at peak times” making it more difficult for vehicles to merge from the entry slip road.
That, the organisation said, meant it would not accept any future scheme that increases vehicle numbers and speeds on the slip route without “a commitment to fund upgrading works” to the merger with the main carriageway.
Pointing out that there is “little prospect” of junction 31A being substantially rebuilt in the foreseeable future – if ever – National Highways said that the situation called into question whether Preston East is any longer suitable for expansion as a strategic employment location. It suggested that the matter should be reviewed as part of the ongoing work to draw up the first ever Central Lancashire Local Plan.
M6 reopened between junctions 32 and 33 after lorry crash | Blog Preston
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M6 reopened between junctions 32 and 33 after lorry crash
Posted on – 13th November, 2023 – 2:55pm | Author – Charlotte Everett | Posted in – Broughton, Pres…
Storm Debi sees National Highways issue severe weather alert for M6, M55 and M61 | Blog Preston
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Storm Debi sees National Highways issue severe weather alert for M6, M55 and M61
Posted on – 12th November, 2023 – 7:31pm | Author – K…