Speed bumps and cycle lane coming to this Preston street amid 'waste of money' claim

Lancashire County Council says it will install the safety measures on Black Bull Lane, in Fulwood, after carrying out a public consultation into the plans late last year.

That process generated claims from a handful of locals that the features were a waste of money – and would not work.

However, highways officials largely rejected the criticism and will now press ahead with the project – which will see six pairs of speed cushions put in place between Black Bull Lane’s junctions with Conway Drive and Ingle Head.

A mandatory cycle lane will be rolled out along part of the same section of the route – on its northbound side, heading away from the city centre towards Garstang Road. However, it will now be slightly shorter than originally planned in response to feedback received – running from just north of Conway Drive to outside Fulwood Academy.

The authority says the speed bumps are intended to “reduce accident severity and likelihood by reducing traffic speeds” in the vicinity of the nearby Fulwood Academy, Queens Drive Primary School and Fulwood Leisure Centre.

It adds that the cycle lane is expected to benefit those wishing to travel on two wheels as “an alternative means of transport” to the facilities in the area.

Meanwhile, a traffic light-controlled ‘puffin’ pedestrian crossing will be installed just north of the junction with Queens Drive, close to the leisure centre.

Just over a dozen responses were received to the consultations into the speed bumps and cycle lane.

Objections to the speed cushions included a suggestion that they would “do nothing other than increase braking and then acceleration in between [them]” – or cause drivers to swerve to avoid them altogether.

It was also claimed that the traffic-calming controls were “uncomfortable” to drive over and could damage vehicles.

In a report addressing those concerns, a highways officer stated that the 65mm height of the speed bumps meant there would be“minimal interference” to vehicles passing over them.

While the potential for rapid acceleration and sharp breaking in between bumps was “acknowledged”, the report added that the minimum allowable distance from one speed cushion to the next had been adopted “to discourage this behaviour”.

“As a result, motorists will quickly find that repeatedly accelerating and braking between these predetermined intervals is detrimental to their vehicles and overall journey,” the official explained.

Concern over the cycle lane focused on the already “narrow width” of the route – and the fact that residents and visitors to the area frequently park over existing road markings, meaning the bicycle-only zone would often be blocked.

The report stated that no-waiting and no-loading restrictions, which also form part of the overall package of measures, would help prevent that problem.

The authority says “a detailed review of the carriageway width” was carried out during the design process and that the centre white line can be “adjusted to accommodate the mandatory cycle lane while maintaining safe traffic movement”.