Average speed cameras should have been installed on deadly A588 before Blackpool biker Kyle Barlow's death - but weren't because of 'delays to the tender process' road bosses finally admit

Average speed cameras, which experts said would cut the number of deaths and serious injuries on one of Britain’s most dangerous roads by around 36 per cent, should have been installed there already – but have not.
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Road chiefs finally admitted safety improvements planned for the A588 were behind schedule, days after swerving this newspaper's questions following the death of beloved young Blackpool dad Kyle Barlow, 24.

A number of measures were planned for the 20-mile route, which runs from Poulton to Lancaster, as part of a £7.9m project, with county council papers saying the cameras – which record a vehicle’s speed at a start and end point, before working out an average speed – would reduce deaths and serious injuries by 36.4 per cent and all injuries by 16 per cent.

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The county council said work had been hindered by red tape – blaming the penny-pinching tender process for the hold-up.

“The average speed cameras were also due to be delivered this year under our original programme,” it said in a statement.

“However, some delays to the tender process mean that these will now be delivered next year.”

White lines, safety barriers, and solar powered LED cat’s eyes were installed this year, the authority added.

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Mr Barlow died in hospital last Saturday from injuries he suffered after his motorbike collided with a pickup truck on the A588 at Cockerham the day before.

Kyle Barlow, 24, from Blackpool, who died last Saturday, left, alongside his brother JayJay (Picture: Family handout)Kyle Barlow, 24, from Blackpool, who died last Saturday, left, alongside his brother JayJay (Picture: Family handout)
Kyle Barlow, 24, from Blackpool, who died last Saturday, left, alongside his brother JayJay (Picture: Family handout)

While the exact cause of the crash has yet to be revealed, with no suggestion either Mr Barlow or the truck’s driver – a man in his 40s from Pilling, Over Wyre, who was not arrested – were to blame, there have long been calls for more to be done to protect bikers and motorists on the route.

Between 2011 and 2013, some 26 people were either killed or seriously hurt in smashes there, including David Redman, 50, from Preesall, who died in 2011 when his bike collided with a Vauxhall Corsa at Hambleton.

After his death, parish councillor June Jackson called for the speed limit on the A588 to be reduced, saying: “It’s a dangerous road and it’s not going to get better.”

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Asked for an update on its investigation, Lancashire Police said it remained “in the very early stages”.

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