AFTER five months of commuter chaos the roadworks have been lifted and all lanes are now open at the redeveloped Haydock Island, the Highways Agency said this week.

The £4.1m transformation at one of the busiest stretches of road in the borough will significantly increase capacity at junction 23 of the M6 on the East Lancs, it is claimed.

If that proves to be the case it will be a relief for motorists, who had been angered by the project overrunning and causing tailbacks. New St Helens North MP Conor McGinn stepped in to contact the Highways Agency about the delays last week.

The new road layout means that drivers can now cut through the centre of the roundabout to turn right onto the M6 or the A49 Lodge Lane rather than having to travel all the way round it. Vehicles leaving the M6 or A49 will also be able to turn right onto the East Lancs, bypassing the roundabout.

The lanes through the centre of the roundabout were previously used only by drivers staying on the East Lancs but two extra lanes have now been added in each direction to allow drivers to turn right.

A dedicated left-turn lane has also been created for the A49 from the roundabout, the exit sliproad from the northbound M6 has been extended and the entire junction has been resurfaced with an antiskid coating.

Dr Andrew Kimmance, project manager at Highways England said: "This project will benefit the thousands of people who use junction 23 every day to travel between the M6, A580 and A49 and we'd like to thank drivers for bearing with us while the work to upgrade the junction has been taking place.

"The extra lanes mean that the vast majority of drivers no longer need to travel around the roundabout and instead can take a shortcut straight through the centre. We realise it might take drivers some time to get used to the new road layout but we've installed signs and road markings to explain how it works."