HIGHWAYS England has confirmed that it is investigating faults with the traffic lights at junction 19 of the M6, after months of problems culminated in huge queues on the new A556 link road.

Following a successful opening on Monday, commuters using the new road between the M6 and M56 on Tuesday were met with delays of more than an hour as traffic light phasing on the Tabley roundabout at junction 19 caused lengthy queues.

While the problem is not a new one, motorists using the A556 were left disappointed with the early results of the £192 million project.

A Highways England spokesman said: “Engineers are investigating a traffic sensor fault at the roundabout at junction 19 of the M6, which has recently been resurfaced as part of a separate scheme.

“They will continue to work until the matter is resolved. Highways England apologises for the disruption.

“We are confident that these are not normal conditions, and that drivers on the new A556 will shortly see a return to the benefits they experienced on the first morning.”

The Guardian reported on the issue last month, when a Pickmere resident told of how her 10-minute commute to King Street had been turned into a 90-minute slog by issues on the roundabout.

At the time, Highways England told the Guardian that the delays were the result of a series of roadworks schemes at all sides of the roundabout, which led to one commuter calling the roundabout ‘over capacity’.

Highways England also suggested that HGV traffic was being diverted to the roundabout as a result of Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Acton swing bridge roadworks.

A commuter told the Guardian that Monday’s A556 opening had been a success because an engineer had been on-site controlling the lights, but that the issue returned on Tuesday.

Many others took to Twitter to voice their discontent, while some defended the issues as ‘teething problems’ after more than two years of behind-the-scenes work on the project.