Multi-million package of highway improvements agreed

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has agreed a major programme of investment to renew vital transport infrastructure including roads, streetlights and bridges as part of a package worth £33.4m over the next year.

Improvement schemes totalling £28.4m have now been given the green light, with a further £5m to be allocated in the coming weeks.

It includes £13.5m to resurface roads and prevent potholes appearing following the damage caused by long spells of wet and cold weather over the winter. This adds to £6m which has already been set aside to ensure timely repairs can be made to potholes throughout the year. Over £4m is being put into repairing 68 residential roads, and £4.9m prioritised for the busiest routes, with 48 schemes to renew A, B and C roads.

The programme includes £4.4m for maintenance to bridges, £1.5m of repairs to streetlights, £300,000 to upgrade traffic signals and £300,000 for up-keep to public rights of way.

County Councillor Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “Our roads and transport infrastructure support many aspects of everyday life and are vital to our economy, ensuring people and goods can travel efficiently. We know that keeping them in good condition is a real priority for residents and businesses.

“The winter weather always has an impact on our roads, however the very wet, windy and cold conditions during the storms over recent weeks have been particularly damaging, leaving us with a long list of repairs needed to roads, walls and bridges.

“Our highway teams are currently working hard to keep on top of the potholes, but as soon as the weather warms up they’ll once again be underway with a busy programme of work to resurface and waterproof our roads to prevent potholes appearing in the first place.

“We have a long term plan to improve the condition of our roads, and surveys have shown a gradual improvement to the main routes where we’ve prioritised investment over recent years. We’ll continuing to maintain these roads to protect this investment, but this year we’re starting to shift more resources towards the smaller residential roads to bring them into better condition.

“We added an extra £5m to the budget in February, which will help to tackle the emerging priorities, and we’ll be working to assess and decide where that’s most needed over the coming weeks.”

The programme also includes £500,000 for eight schemes to improve road safety and £500,000 for six schemes specifically to improve safety for cyclists. These include improvements to pedestrian crossing facilities, lighting, signs and lines, and constructing cycleways.

County Councillor Iddon added: “We look at information about casualties to prioritise schemes to make our roads safer, and will be carrying out a number of schemes to help prevent collisions, and improve junctions and pedestrian crossing facilities to make it easier for people to walk and cycle.”