Lancashire County Council have responded to e-petitions brought for the improvement of roads and street lighting across Frenchwood areas.

The e-petition to resurface all the roads in the Frenchwood area due to their ‘poor state’ has garnered 11 signatures so far:

The petition, which is due to close on Friday (17 February) states: “We, the undersigned, petition the county council to resurface the roads around the Frenchwood area as the roads are in a very poor state and not in line with updated standards.

“Brixton Road has been resurfaced with tarmac some years ago but Roman Road and Ruskin street remain as old cobbles. The speed humps and the bricked roads are causing issues for drivers and doesn’t look very professional.

“The roads are not consistent and we feel all the roads in the Frenchwood area should be tarmacked for smooth driving and inconvenience.

“We also ask for the speed bump on Bence Road to be removed and redesigned as we believe it is damaging to cars, no matter what speed you go.”

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A spokesman for Lancashire County Council responded and said: “We carry out surveys on the condition of residential roads across the county every two years to inform our priorities for maintenance, and the roads highlighted in Frenchwood, including those paved with stone setts, also known as cobbles, are part of this process.

“Alongside these condition surveys we inspect roads more regularly to identify the need for repairs to defects such as potholes to ensure our roads are safe.

“Stone setts can have a traffic calming effect and a heritage value. Many sett paved roads have been in place for many years, and often need very little maintenance.

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“The speed humps are an effective measure for enforcing 20mph speed limit areas and reducing the risk of collisions. Our data shows that there have been no collisions on Bence Road in the last five years, suggesting the speed humps are working effectively.

“There are two primary schools and a college nearby and it is a safety priority to ensure low speeds in the areas that pupils will be walking to and from school.

Another e-petition has garnered 58 signatures so far, to upgrade the street lighting in the Frenchwood and Avenham areas, as resident feel vulnerable at night due to poor lighting.

The undersigned said: “We, the undersigned, petition the county council to upgrade the Street Lighting around the Frenchwood/Avenham areas.

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“The street lighting in the Frenchwood/Avenham is very poor and making residents feel vulnerable at night.

“There is also an increase in crime in the area where youths are moving around with balaclavas undeterred in dark areas, carrying torches and we feel better lighting such as brightness is adjusted, so we can look out for each other and will be a crime prevention measure.

“The police can only do so much, but street lighting is very critical, in particular around Roman Road, Brixton Road and Southern Parade/Avenue. Berwick Road in Avenham and surrounding streets should also be addressed.

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“This has been requested before and declined so we would respectfully ask, if this can be reviewed and reconsidered.

“The Street Lighting around the Frenchwood/Avenham areas need to be upgrade with better brightness as soon as possible, as its extremely dark at the moment and the Brightness levels do increase in some but not all parts of Frenchwood.”

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A spokesperson for Lancashire County Council said: “We have had a programme in Lancashire in recent years which is saving millions of pounds on our energy bills by replacing older, sodium streetlights with new, efficient LED lighting. 

“LED white lighting is more directional and does not spill the same amount of light to the sides of the road compared to the old style of lighting. We appreciate that there are mixed opinions about this, however, it has been welcomed by some people due to the reduction of light pollution into their properties.

“The lighting systems on the roads highlighted are typical for residential streets, with Manchester Road better illuminated due to the higher lighting columns originally installed as it is a busier, class C road.”

“Lancashire County Council will respond formally to the petitions after they end.”

The petition to resurface the roads in Frenchwood and upgrade the street lighting in Frenchwood and Avenham are both on the county council petitions website.

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