This is when major roadworks in Northampton will finish - and why the traffic lights stay on red for so long

A new completion date has been revealed for controversial major roadworks on a busy road in and out of Northampton, which have affected thousands of motorists.

The roadworks at the entrance of Upton Valley Way North - which are part of the Morris Homes St Michael's Park private housing development - have been causing motorists grief since they started on October 4.

The road is a major route in and out of town and the turning into Upton Valley Way North is used by thousands everyday to get to work in Pineham and Swan Valley.

West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) said in the public notices section of the Chronicle and Echo last month the works would be completed by October 22, but they are still ongoing.

A new completion date has now been set by Morris Homes.

The issues with the completion date has also been compounded by problems with the temporary traffic lights in place, which have been reported as sporadically faulty and causing long tailbacks of traffic.

A Morris Homes spokesperson said: "Traffic Management on A4500 Weedon Road/entrance to Upton Valley Way has had to remain in place slightly longer than originally planned [an extra month] due to works in the area and is due for completion at the end of this month (November).

"The system in place has been designed and implemented by a specialist contractor and is fully approved by the local authority.

"We are aware that there were some initial technical difficulties with equipment and a full-time operative was in place to enable better management of the flow of traffic.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused during this time."

Chron reader Christopher Griffiths tweeted this newspaper on Tuesday (November 9) saying: "Would sincerely love to know why after nearly a month, there are still roadworks traffic lights on Weedon road that are in desperate need of recalibration making people skip them and U-turn. Any ideas?"

This newspaper contacted the owners of the traffic lights, SRC Traffic Systems.

An SRL spokesman said he had been down to the site on Tuesday (November 9) and the lights were working fine.

He also said they have been set to stay red for around three to four minutes. The reason for this long length of time is because there are many HGVs coming out of Pineham and on to the A45, he added.

Two warehouse workers at Sainsbury's added that cars had recently been 'piling up to about 100 yards back' because of the traffic lights, which was subsequently making them late for work.

St Michael's Park is set to be a collection of two, three, four, and five-bedroom homes.