A KNUTSFORD woman has seen her two-mile commute turn into an hour-long nightmare because of the ‘over-capacity’ M6 roundabout.

Claire Heath, who lives in Pickmere Lane and works in King Street, says she spends up to an hour each morning trying to get around the junction 19 roundabout.

With M6 ‘smart motorway’ roadworks, A556 improvements, and local government works marking the roundabout as a diversion, Claire says it cannot deal with the increased capacity.

She said: “It’s happening every morning from about 7.30am. The roundabout is getting totally snarled up – no one can get on, no-one can get off.

“I live down Pickmere Lane and sometimes have to queue to get out of my house. At the moment, most of my commute is spent on the roundabout. It used to take me 10 minutes, now it’s up to an hour.”

A Highways England spokesman said that a local government diversion was currently directing HGVs towards the roundabout, and that once the works were complete he was confident the problems would alleviate.

In the meantime, Claire says that motorists’ frustration is clear and that the clogged-up roundabout is an accident waiting to happen.

She said: “People are getting frustrated watching the lights go and not moving, and so when they can get anywhere they are blocking the road. That’s just human nature. They need to discourage people from doing that.

“I can see an accident coming. If you have been sitting on a slip road and a roundabout for half an hour, you are going to get off and put your foot down.

“I think they need to check that they have got the phasing correct. They need to put some temporary yellow boxes so that no-one blocks the road.”

The roundabout is being redesigned, with a consultation on proposals to either add more lanes or build a new bridge across the roundabout closing last September.

The preferred option is due to be announced in spring, with construction due to start in March 2020.