Traffic lights appear set to be installed on one of Preston’s busiest roads in a bid to improve the safety of cyclists.

Lancashire County Council has earmarked funding for the design work needed to remodel the junction between the A6, Garstang Road, and St. Vincents Road in Fulwood.

The authority has put aside £46,000 to draw up the details of the new layout, but no cash has been reserved to do the job in the current financial year – meaning that the change is likely to be at least 12 months away.

The proposed scheme is one of half a dozen road and cycling safety schemes that have been approved by County Hall’s cabinet at accident blackspots – with the other five all being allocated the money needed to make them happen by next spring.

They include a pedestrian crossing and cycle lane being installed on another road in Fulwood and speed bumps on a route in Walton-le-Dale.

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Currently, a give-way system governs traffic turning out of St. Vincents Road onto the A6. Under the parameters of the proposed redesign, traffic lights would be installed, featuring ‘toucan’ crossings at the easterly and southerly arms of the junction.

Toucan facilities allow cyclists to ride across a pedestrian crossing without having to dismount – as they are obliged to do at puffin and pelican-style lights – with that right being highlighted by the presence of a red and green bike symbol alongside the red and green man.

The new junction would see the current ‘advisory’ northbound cycle lane converted into a mandatory feature and the introduction of on-carriageway parking bays and shared-use footway and cycle paths.

Meanwhile, a signal-controlled right-turn lane into St. Vincents Road would be created for northbound A6 traffic, heading away from Preston.

Separate cabinet approval would be required to implement the changes and the funding for it – following completion of the design work.

However, that green light has already been given to two other Central Lancashire schemes planned for 2023/24.

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A new mandatory cycle lane – with separator features – will be installed on Black Bull Lane in Fulwood, along with a ‘puffin’ crossing to the north of Queens Drive.

So-called “bus-friendly speed cushions” are to be put in place on the approaches to the new pedestrian lights and the bus stop fronting Fulwood Academy will be relocated and reduced in size as a result. The overall project is set to cost £230,000.

In Walton-le-Dale, the existing 20mph zone on Duddle Lane will be better highlighted and enforced with new signage and traffic-calming measures, including speed cushions.

‘Wig-wag’ flashing amber lights will be installed to highlight the lollipop school crossing patrol that operates near Severn Drive, while other warning signs and ‘SLOW’ road markings will be introduced to align the route as part of a £120,000 package of measures designed to reduce the speed of road users.

The money for the projects has come from Lancashire’s £6.1m share of the government’s integrated transport grant this year.

That means that the road and cycling safety schemes selected had to be at locations where there had been at least five injury-causing collisions – a minimum of 20 percent of which resulted in death or serious injury – within the last five years. The cycling initiatives also had to be near major sources of journeys for vulnerable road users, such as schools, sports facilities and parks.

A report presented to cabinet members stresses that the projects are dependent on the final level of spending incurred during the equivalent programme for 2022/23 and are also subject to delay or cancellation in the event of rising costs, bad weather or the emergence of other priorities.

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A total of £1m worth of safety projects was approved Lancashire-wide, while £300,000 was set aside to improve public rights of way across the county. Almost three quarters of the footpath cash will be used to rectify defects as they arise during the year, with the rest reserved for upgrading four already-identified routes – including Footpath 23 in Penwortham

Meanwhile, £100,000 has been earmarked as part of ongoing work to ensure that bus stops are accessible for disabled people and comply with disability discrimination legislation.

The remainder of the grant cash will be split between three previously agreed commitments – £2.5m in contributions to transport schemes within the Preston and South Ribble City Deal area; £1.25m as the first of four equal tranches of match-funding for County Hall’s successful Levelling Up Fund bid to improve connectivity across East Lancashire; and a £460,000 contribution – of which there will be ten over the decade to 2032 – towards the South Lancaster Growth Catalyst, a raft of transport initiatives to facilitate the delivery of thousands of new homes in that area.

A £491,000 contingency pot has also been agreed in case it is required for match funding, should the county’s bid to the latest round of the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund be successful.

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