Council speaks out after members of public cause chaos by removing cones and signs to reopen Friargate

Friargate road closure sign Pic: Blog Preston — Friargate closed to traffic on Monday 16 May Pic: Blog Preston

Lancashire County Council has spoken out after members of the public removed cones and signs to reopen Friargate on the first day it was closed for major transformation works.

The partial closure of Friargate to traffic happened on Monday (16 May) as the next step in the £14.7m Transforming Friargate North and Ringway scheme, which began in November 2021.

One reader who got in touch with Blog Preston, said there was total confusion on the road, with cars and buses driving the wrong way.

In response, a spokesperson for Lancashire County Council told Blog Preston that the issues occurred after staff had to leave the site for safety reasons.

They said: “As part of the ongoing transformation of Friargate North and Ringway, on Monday 16 May, part of Friargate was closed.

“We notified bus services of this closure and informed them that all inbound buses should use Corporation Street as an alternative route.

“All diversions were erected prior to closing Friargate, which happened around midday.

“Following an incident on-site, highways staff had to temporarily leave the site for safety reasons.

“While we were off-site, road users took it on themselves to remove signs and cones and reopened Friargate, resulting in motorists driving through a road which had no egress, putting other road users and members of the public at risk.

“This caused confusion and led to a bus driving on Friargate that shouldn’t have.”

Bus stuck on Ringway Pic: Nigel Walter — A bus stuck in Ringway. Vehicles drove the wrong way through roadworks after signs were removed Pic: Nigel Walter

The spokesperson said that a number of measures had since been put in place to alleviate congestion.

They continued: “We appreciate that the current works may cause some inconvenience, but we are doing everything we can to mitigate this.

“We are confident the project, once completed, will bring numerous benefits to the city of Preston and urge the public to bear with us while we carry out this work.”

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