MOTORISTS faced evening misery on the first day of roadworks that are set to shut one of Bolton’s busiest roads for a month.

In a sign of things to come, commuters faced long queues and delays on the A666 St Peters Way last night, October 5 as ‘STOP-TOBER’ began in earnest.

It was the first of evening closures that will see the thoroughfare closed between Topp Way and the Kearsley Spur from 8pm-6am each night.

The closure is to allow for preparatory work ahead of a £7.3 million resurfacing programme next year.

A fresh wave of lane closures and 40mph speed zones instigated last Saturday coincide with the evening closures.

Those restrictions are in place while Network Rail continue with the Farnworth tunnel project, which is forecast to run until December.

People on social media vented their frustration at last night’s delays.

On Facebook, Simon Hanna said: “Set off 15 minutes earlier yesterday morning and even by half 6 it was getting bad. Hate to think what it was like an hour later. Gave me plenty of time to count the workers, which was zero (as usual).

Helen Rainford said: “I got stuck at 5.30 pm and it was chocker all the way down to Kearsley slip road. Farnworth was chocker at 9pm.”

Charles Parkin said: “I was stuck at 8.45pm. The queue was ridiculous - 15 minutes to get from A580 slip to Kearsley roundabout.”

Did you get stuck in last night’s traffic and how did affect you? Let us know what you think about the evening closures in comments, below.

Keep up to date with delays and roadworks on our live traffic page at theboltonnews.co.uk/li/traffic.in.Bolton/