Traffic lights are to be installed at a junction on the A414 near St Albans.

Hertfordshire County Council has announced work will begin on the dual carriageway next week on the longabout near Colney Health and Smallford.

The work, which will last for 11 weeks, will see traffic lights installed in both directions on the A414 at the junction of High Street, Colney Heath.

The longabout, which runs from Colney Heath Lane to Smallford Lane, will be cut in half at High Street to allow vehicles coming from Colney Heath to pull out across the A414 towards Hatfield, so there will be no need to go around the whole longabout.

The new junction will also include safe crossing points for pedestrians, cyclists, and horses.

It comes after a petition was set up in 2017 by then Colney Heath parish councillor Margaret Nash, who called for traffic lights on the longabout.

Currently, drivers leaving Colney Heath have to pull out on the 50mph A414 and dash across two lanes of traffic if they are heading towards Hatfield or down Colney Heath Lane.

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

Drivers currently pull out into live traffic from Colney Heath High Street. Credit: Google Street View

Councillor Phil Bibby, responsible for highways, says this work will make the junction safer.

He said: “I hope people will bear with us while we carry out these important works. While they will cause some delays for traffic using this section of the A414, the end result will be a safer junction with more reliable traffic flow, and in the long term that will improve journeys along this busy section of road.”

St Albans & Harpenden Review:

The A414 towards Hatfield. On the right is Colney Heath High Street. Traffic lights will be installed on both sides of the A414. Credit: Google Street View

The work will begin on Monday August 17 and Ringway workers will be on site from 7.30am to 9pm.

There will be a temporary 30mph speed limit in place on the A414 and the dual carriageway will be down to a single lane on the longabout between August 17 and October 22 – which is likely to cause traffic delays.

There will also be no access from Colney Heath High Street onto the A414 from August 24 until the work has been completed.

Between October 2 and October 23, resurfacing will take place overnight on the A414 between the London Colney roundabout and the A1(M).

This will result in full night closures.

The council says fully signed diversion routes will be put in place.

Other work going on will include street lighting improvement, new road signs and markings, and changes to kerbs and traffic islands.