Road dangers 'being ignored'

Fears have been raised over the volumes of traffic in and around Poulton and the number of drivers using residential streets as rat runsThe cause has been taken up by Coun Alf Clempson who revealed the scale of complaints at a recent meeting of the Poulton Forum.He believes new housing developments and retail schemes are having a major impact.He said: “There are so many issues with regards to road safety and speed which I firmly believe are being ignored by Lancashire County Council (LCC) “Many new issues are coming to light as a result of retail and residential development but while many residents know the issues because they deal with them every day, LCC just do not spend enough time assessing them. “Traffic volumes are increasing without the correct safety measures to counter the increase.”Many drivers are being forced away from the main roads by rush hour jams and Coun Clempson is worried there will be knock on effects when it comes to road safety.He said: “The narrow residential roads of the town were just not designed to take the type or volume of traffic they now cater for. “ Poulton is used by many as a shortcut and for that reason too many vehicles speed through the town and through the residential roads, using them as rat-runs. “I am working with the police to try to tackle this issue but many improvements to safety and traffic calming measures are also needed.”And Coun Clempson says recent improvement schemes have actually made life more difficult for some residents.He said: “Mossbourne Road has just been re-surfaced and while of course this is great news, it has now become a race track. “I have asked for traffic calming measures to be looked at and I am waiting for answers. “Mny other roads in the town suffer from vehicles driving at excessive speed“I will keep highlighting this issue and pushing for additional safety measures to be introduced.”County Hall bosses accepted there were higher than normal traffic levels through Poulton, blaming the bridge works at Plymouth Road.A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: “We closely examine planning applications to consider their potential impact on our transport network, and work closely with Wyre Council to apply conditions to secure contributions from developers towards any highway and environmental improvements that may be needed. “We are aware that traffic levels in Poulton are currently higher than usual due to work being carried out on the Plymouth Road Bridge in Blackpool which is causing traffic to divert through the town. “We have carried out a safety audit following the introduction of highway improvements near the new Booths development. This resulted in an additional sign being put up to alert drivers to the zebra crossings on Blackpool Road. “We recently put up a speed indicator device on Mossbourne Road in response to concerns raised by the community about speeding. These signs encourage drivers to observe the speed limit by making them more aware of the speed limit and how quickly they are driving. T he police will consider further enforcement action if necessary. “We are currently investigating a number of further highway safety issues raised by Councillor Clempson. We will discuss the concerns raised about speeding at the next of our regular meetings with the police.”