Works at major road in and out of Northampton complete after weeks of chaos

Six-week roadworks at a busy Northampton junction have finished after a month and a half of traffic chaos.

The works at the crossroads of St Andrew's Road and Spencer Bridge Road were finished within the last few days, which has seen parts of the roads in all directions resurfaced and new traffic signals installed.

The area had been reduced to single file traffic in all four directions while the works were taking place, which caused long queues for motorists going in and out of the town.

Northamptonshire Highways and partners KierWSP were the ones which upgraded the traffic signals, renewed the pedestrian crossing points and resurfaced the roads.

Fiona Unett, from West Northamptonshire Council, said: “We would like to thank everyone for their patience during the works and apologise for any delays. We do all we can to mitigate the impact of our works and reduce the programme duration.

“The upgrade will help traffic flow for increased safety, minimising congestion, reducing stop-start movements and improving journey-times. This can all help contribute to an overall reduction in both air pollution and greenhouse emissions and improve journeys now and in the future.”

Ms Unett added that the improvements will increase safety, with enhanced road markings, a new road surface, traffic detection which will improve flow, and better pedestrian safety measures on the crossing including extended timings for those who need it.

The works caused chaos throughout the town, more so when they first began in March.

The former county council responded to this newspaper after it was asked why multiple major roadworks were happening at the same in close proximity to each other.

The county councillor responsible at the time, Jason Smithers, said: “The impact of these works is temporary congestion. However, it is important to recognise that these works are temporary and are being carried out in order to improve journeys and traffic flow longer term. This will, in turn, reduce air pollution in the long run."