Preston City Council confirm access to Preston Docks is blocked for boats after barrier was hit by vehicle
There was an incident at Preston Docks yesterday that is set to cause disruption for the next two days.
Preston City Council has warned of restricted access to Preston Docks due to a traffic incident.
Yesterday afternoon, Preston City Council confirmed that a safety barrier on the swing bridge had been damaged by a vehicle.
Due to the damage, the authority warned that Navigation Way cannot be closed to traffic until at least Monday evening, meaning the access between the Marina and the Docks is shut off to boats.
In a statement, Riversway and Parking Manager, Russell Rees, said: “Following a vehicle strike to one of the road barriers to the swing bridge approach, it is no longer safe to close Navigation Way to vehicular traffic in advance of swinging the bridge, to facilitate the movement of marine traffic between the main dock basin and the lock and vice versa.
“Repairs to the barrier will be undertaken with an estimate repair date of late on Monday 27 April.
“Until such time that the barrier is repaired, vessels entering Riversway from the river will only be able to proceed as far as the lock until further notice.”
Later that evening, the Preston Dock Bridge X account also shared a photo of the damaged barrier.
Providing futher context the account wrote: “Barrier broken near @Swingbridge2
“No boats allowed into the docks till the barrier is repaired on Monday as the road cannot be safely closed.
“Not sure if the road will be shut at some point whilst repairs take place.”
In the replies to the tweet, it appears that a bus had hit the barrier, with one user sharing a photo of a bus’ broken windscreen at the scene.
One passenger claimed the barrier had come down without warning.