Speed camera to be moved to make way for new zebra crossing on Preston street where children have been seriously hurt

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has given the go-ahead to the new pedestrian facility on Cadley Causeway, in Fulwood, outside St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church.

The raised crossing point will be put in place just east of the junction with Mill Lane – and will require the relocation of a speed camera which currently covers that exact spot. The device will now be shifted to the west of Rossall Road in an attempt to slow traffic on the eastbound approach to the new zebra.

Meanwhile, a trio of speed cushions are to spring up between the crossing and the junction with Black Bull Lane, in order to have a similar slowing effect on westbound vehicles.

There were five injury-causing collisions on Cadley Causeway – at the foot of the hill where it meets Mill Lane and St. Anthony’s Drive – between 2015 and 2019. Three of the smashes left road users seriously hurt.

The first of those came when a young boy was knocked over in June 2015. Two further incidents in December of that year saw another child run down and, separately, two women – a pensioner and her daughter – hospitalised after a vehicle crashed into their car, a bus stop and the church wall.

By that time, John Potter, Cadley ward councillor on Preston City Counci, had already been demanding safety upgrades for two years. However, as recently as 2019, highway officials at County Hall concluded that the spot – just yards from St. Anthony’s Catholic Primary School – did not meet the criteria for intervention.

Reacting to confirmation of the new crossing, Cllr Potter told the Lancashire Post that it was “fantastic news that [it] is finally happening”.

“After many years of campaigning by the local Liberal Democrats , this vital improvement in road safety is very welcome,” said Cllr Potter, who also represents the Preston West division on Lancashire County Council.

As part of the safety works, ‘no loading’ restrictions will also be introduced on stretches of Cadley Causeway and Mill Lane during school drop-off and pick-up times – weekdays from 8am until 9.30am and between 3pm and 4.30pm. Cabinet members were told that the new rules would prevent vehicles parking on the pavement during these periods, “which has been observed to create a hazard for pedestrians”.

In addition, waiting and parking will be banned at all times on sections of Cadley Causeway and Rossall Road, in the vicinity of the relocated speed camera, to ensure parked vehicles do not interfere with the operation of the device.

Cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick said that the county council had acted “in response to a number of representations over a number of years in respect of casualties” in the area.

A public consultation into the plans received 33 letters of support, but also three objections, which cited concerns including over the likely effectiveness of the proposed measures and a suggestion that the repositioned speed camera would interfere with the line of sight for drivers turning out of Rossall Road onto Cadley Causeway. A report to cabinet members stated that the combined width of the camera and an existing tree would not exceed that “considered to pose a significant threat to road safety”.

The overall scheme will cost £112,000, the funding for which was first earmarked in 2021.