Our ‘most dangerous’ road to be made safer
JON MACPHERSON
SAFETY upgrades will be made to the most ‘dangerous’ road in Hyndburn after a council investigation.
The Observer exclusively revealed last year how Blackburn Road, which runs through Oswaldtwistle, Church and West Accrington, is the most dangerous road according to Lancashire County Council highways figures, with 63 accidents between 2014 and 2016.
This is 50 per cent higher than the Hyndburn stretch of the M65 motorway - the borough’s second most dangerous road - with 42 collisions and Whalley Road in Claytonle-Moors, the third worst, with 39 incidents.
Lancashire County Council said funding has now been allocated for upgrades on the Blackburn Road stretch in West End, Oswaldtwistle.
It will include a series of road ‘build-outs’, improving signs and repainting zebra crossings.
Designs for the scheme will be completed by the end of March and construction work will aim to be completed by March 2019.
Peter Agland, district lead officer, said: “Initial investigations have been carried out and the design of the new scheme is now underway.
“From the accidents that have occurred here, the problems identified include collisions during the hours of darkness, col- lisions resulting from vehicles turning into the path of oncoming vehicles from side roads, and collisions resulting from excessive speed and loss of control. Recommendations put forward for the design of the new scheme are improvement to the existing gateway to the west of the scheme, a series of buildouts and virtual buildouts at side roads, refreshing the zebra crossing lines and improvements to signs and lines.
“In addition, a street lighting assessment is to be requested to establish if lighting levels are appropriate.”
Peter Britcliffe, Oswaldtwistle county councillor and chairman of the town’s area forum, said he was ‘absolutely delighted’. He said: “It’s a road where the residents and myself have been campaigning for years to get something done.
“I once described it as the most dangerous road in Hyndburn and it’s good that there are now plans afoot to improve safety.”
Figures obtained by the Observer under the Freedom of Information Act revealed a total of 591 collisions were recorded in the three years between 2013/14 and 2015/16, resulting in 821 casualties and five fatalities.