New traffic rules planned for two Preston city centre junctions

The Initiative is — The initiative is set to be rolled out next summer Pic: Lancashire County Council

New plans which aim to improve road safety and keep traffic moving at key locations across the county were approved at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday 1 December.

The initiative – which will see Lancashire County Council given new powers to stop drivers attempting dangerous manoeuvres including driving the wrong way down one-way streets – is set to be rolled out next summer.

As well as helping to prevent accidents, it is hoped that this will also help reduce congestion.

The council plans to initially introduce the powers at four locations including Charnley Street and Ringway/Bow Lane junction in Preston.

The offences targeted include:

turning left, right or making u-turns when instructed not to do so
driving the wrong way up one-way streets
entering yellow box junctions when the exit is not clear
driving where/when motor vehicles are prohibited

Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology will be used to identify drivers.

A six week consultation was held for road users and pedestrians to share their feedback on the plans, which ran until Sunday 27 November.

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County Councillor Charlie Edwards, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “I carefully read through the respondents’ comments and I am pleased to see that the majority of these support what we hope to achieve. It’s a priority for us to keep our roads safe, keep traffic moving and do what we can to minimise emissions.

“We will issue first-offence drivers a warning letter to ensure that people understand the scheme, which is very much focused on putting safety first, as well as dealing with traffic delays.

“We are hoping that if this initiative is successful, it could be rolled out at other locations across the county which suffer from a poor safety record. Any additional sites would each undertake the same consultation process before it was rolled out to them in the future.”