"It is a nightmare": Fury over road closures and cycle lanes set to stay until December

Stephen Turton, co-owner of D Sandersons Bookbinders, Primrose Hill, has said the new temporary road closures brought in by Lancashire County Council are 'pointless' and are preventing important deliveries being made to his business.

LCC introduced the changes to roads in Preston to help social distancing and encourage people to walk and cycle for regular journeys as lockdown restrictions are eased, to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Primrose Hill and Adelaide Street are side roads, just off London Road, which are often used by large lorries for deliveries to Primrose Mill and help to ease traffic on the A6.

Stephen said: "It is a nightmare. I can't get deliveries either because we normally rely on the road for them. Now big lorries turn up the road because they don't know it is closed and end up getting stuck and can't turn back around.

"There have been people who can't deliver my stock, meaning we have had to pick up some of our bigger deliveries. The road closures have caused absolute havoc to Preston. Roads like Adelaide street are used by people to cut through to the A59 which take so much pressure off the traffic into the town centre. Now, even the park and ride can take 40 minutes to get into Preston meaning people don't want to come because of all the hassle."

Stephen lives at Walton Le Dale with wife Jacqueline and said the commute to work can now take up half an hour for a journey of just two miles.

And staff who live further out of the city are showing up late for work because of the increased traffic caused by pop up cycle lanes and road closures.

Stephen added: "There is a school down there with infants too that are crossing this busy road. It is just an accident waiting to happen. I can't understand why these road closures have been introduced because it hasn't helped our business after Covid. The council say that they are to help with social distancing for cyclists, but you could sit there all day and only see a handful of cyclists use the road."

The county council have been working alongside Preston City Council to begin their phased reopening of the town centre as footfall increases, but are encouraging people to walk or cycle due to restrictions on public transport.

The 'point-closures', such as those seen on Adelaide Street, are meant to allow vehicles access the full length of the road to reach homes and businesses but stop them being used as 'rat-runs' to avoid traffic and providing quieter routes for cyclists.

The closures were introduced on July 1 and are due to last until December 21.

County Councillor Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "We're always looking for opportunities to make it easier for people to travel more sustainably, however current advice is to avoid using public transport unless your journey is really necessary, so instead we're asking people to walk and cycle if they can.

"We're now building on these measures by temporarily closing some further roads at various points to make them quieter routes for cyclists and prevent rat-running, while still allowing access for vehicles via signed diversions.

"The closures should make these routes significantly less busy by keeping vehicle traffic on more suitable main routes and away from local roads which are more suited for cycling.

"Our aim is to create a network of better links for cyclists on routes into Preston to encourage people to use their bikes for regular journeys, such as getting to work.

"While social distancing restrictions have eased somewhat, we expect them to affect the way people can use public transport for some time to come, with the risk that this could lead to an increase in people driving and cause more congestion on the roads.

"If creating these quieter routes, and pop-up cycle lanes, make some people feel more able to cycle instead of driving or using public transport for regular journeys, they will have been worthwhile.

"At the same time they are a temporary measure as part of our response to the coronavirus crisis, and we will keep them under review."

A full list of road closures and developments can be found HERE.