Work to resume on Lancaster road safety scheme

A new phase of work to improve safety on one of Lancashire's highest casualty roads is due to start soon.

It will see hundreds of solar-powered LED 'cats eyes' being fitted along the centre line of sections of an approximately 13-mile stretch of the A683 from J34 of the M6 motorway at Halton to the junction with the A65 at Kirkby Lonsdale.

The scheme, which also involved painting special high-reflectivity line markings on the road, began last year but only a small number of the cats eyes could be installed due to global supply chain issues.

The scheme is part of the Safer Roads Programme, a £7.9m investment to improve safety on five A-roads identified by the Department for Transport as the county's historically most dangerous routes.

The work is now scheduled to take place from Monday 28 February to around Friday 18 March, but could take longer if there are delays due to poor weather. It will be carried out nightly from Monday to Friday with sections of the A683 being closed from 8pm to 6am as the work progresses. Local diversions suitable for all vehicles will be fully signed while the closures are in place, however residents and businesses will have access to their properties at all times.

County Councillor Rob Bailey, lead member for highways and transport, said: "We're always working to try to make our roads safer and bring forward design improvements where there is evidence that this would help to reduce the number of incidents.

"We have been successful in a bid for funding to the Department for Transport's Safer Roads Programme, allowing us to make major improvements to a number of roads which have a record of serious injuries.

"Speeding has very often been a factor in these incidents, and the measures we are putting in place are designed to reduce vehicle speeds through enforcement, as well as aiding drivers to make safer decisions through measures such as LED cats eyes and high reflectivity lining.

"We were unable to finish the work we started last year on the A683 due to the global supply chain problems which resulted from the Covid pandemic, however I'm pleased that we're now in a position to complete this important scheme.

"Our contractor will be doing their best to keep disruption to a minimum, however I'm grateful for people's patience over the coming weeks while the overnight closures are in place to allow the work to be carried out safely."

The Safer Roads Programme also includes improvements to the A682 in Pendle, A588 in Wyre, A6 in Lancaster, and A581 in Chorley and West Lancashire.