WORK to ease Blackburn's roadworks misery before Christmas is ahead of schedule.

Railway Road in the town centre reopened as one-way on time on Monday, November 3 and will be two-way a couple of days earlier than expected on Friday, December 5.

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The taxi ranks on High Street and by the railway station on The Boulevard are back in operation.

Elsewhere, gas main replacement work on Eanam should be complete by the end of the month instead of stretching into the middle of December as feared.

Similar work on Salford should finish by the end of November.

In Rossendale, United Utilities sewer replacement work on the Grane Road outside the Duke of Wellington pub in Haslingden has finished and the roads around the M65 Guide roundabout will clear over the Christmas period.

Highway works for the £4.8million Furthergate Link Road along Accrington Road at Copy Nook in Audley will not begin until the New Year. Work will stretch through 2015 into the early part of 2016.

Last month, gas main work was completed on Preston New Road near Yew Tree Drive.

Work on the Ewood Gyratory on the A666 Bolton Road to Darwen will continue with special arrangements for Ewood Park match day traffic over the Christmas and New Year fixtures.

Blackburn with Darwen regeneration boss Maureen Bateson said: “As Christmas is almost upon us it is important that the council minimises disruption for residents within the borough during the festive period.

"With this in mind Railway Road will open fully as of December 5 at the very latest and council roadworks will be eased throughout December.”

United Utilities engineer Dean Oldham said: “We’re delighted our work on Grane Road is now complete."

National Grid spokeswoman Jeanette Unsworth said: "On Eanam, work has been delayed by the fact that we’ve encountered high voltage electricity cables lying close to the gas main.

"We are working hard to get back on track and hope to have the work completed by the end of this month.

"We’ve made good progress on Salford and expect to have the bulk of the work complete before the end of this month but will need to return to renew the section of pipe from Salford along Railway Road to Church Street early next year."