The Lancashire roads set for safety and upgrade work

A raft of road repairs and improvements have been announced by Lancashire County Council, some of which are set to be funded by money shifted from a temporarily deferred scheme.

A meeting of the authority’s cabinet approved a plan to reallocate the cash from work on the A601(M) in Lancaster to other “emerging priorities” across the county.

The authority had earmarked just over £400,000 for preparatory works on the route, which were needed before a bid could be made to the government for money from its Maintenance Challenge initiative - which would then have funded further upgrades on the A601(M).

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But a delay to the bidding process being opened means the preparatory work will not need to be carried out until the next financial year - and the available money can be spent elsewhere. The A601(M) work is still set to go ahead in 2019/20, along with the bid to the Department for Transport.

Here are the areas set to benefit in the meantime:

A588, Condor Bridge, Lancaster

An annual inspection of the bridge during the summer revealed that a key part of the structure had been washed away, leaving it exposed to a higher flood risk. According to a report presented to cabinet: “The damage urgently needs repairing to prevent the bridge being undermined.”

Longridge Road, Chipping

A wall which supports the road was found to have tie bars in a poor condition, resulting in the structure being partially undermined. “Land on the opposite site of the bank of Chipping Brook will be acquired so that the brook can be re-aligned and embanked against the wall to address...stability problems,” the cabinet report notes.

A681, Todmorden Road, Rossendale

A retaining wall which supports the road partially collapsed earlier this year, since when the road has been reduced to a single lane with temporary traffic lights. The wall needs urgent repair “before it deteriorates further and to reduce the ongoing traffic management costs”, members were told.

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Further projects are to be provided with original funding or money received from developers as part of the planning process:

A565 Southport Road at the junction of Moss Hey Lane

The southbound arm of Moss Hey Lane will be closed to traffic after an unusually high accident rate was identified. Members were told that almost half of the 17 collisions at the junction in the past five years could have been prevented if the closure had been in place. Member for Highways, Keith Iddon, said he did not want to see a fatality at the blackspot.

Church Road, Tarleton

A zebra crossing is set to be installed to accommodate the increased number of pedestrians as a result of a new retail and office development in the area.