Community action group set up to help tackle reckless driving in Bamber Bridge

A community action group has been established to help secure traffic calming measures in a South Ribble town.

Cllr David Bollenberg, elected to South Ribble Borough Council representing Bamber Bridge West after a by-election in October 2024 triggered by Paul Foster becoming an MP, has joined forces with two Queensway residents to form ‘Brig Against Reckless Driving’.

Alan Fisher and Robert Gore, of Queensway, say that the roads around them – including Kingsway and Carr Street – are regularly used by drivers at high speeds to dodge traffic lights, in particular those at the Brownedge Lane and Station Road junction.

Cllr Bollenberg said: “From the start of my campaign, and throughout the last four months, traffic and speeding have been one of the main topics of concern and complaint for the residents of Bamber Bridge.”

“I met Robert and Alan when I was out speaking to people in the area, and they both told me horror stories of drivers speeding down Kingsway and Carr Street from Station Road, or along Queensway towards Station Road, at 40 or 50 mph along the 20 mph roads.

“Many residents I have spoken to in the area feel it is only a matter of time until a child or older person is hit, and possibly killed, by a driver taking a shortcut to avoid a few minutes’ wait at the traffic lights.”

“I’ve seen it myself, when out talking to Robert about the issue on our first meeting back in September. As he told me about some of the times he’s seen speeding vehicles, a car came hurtling down Kingsway and into Queensway at well over 20 MPH. It was a very sobering experience to see exactly what the families in these streets, many with small children, have to deal with all day, every day.”

South Ribble Borough Council is not responsible for the roads in South Ribble – that duty falls to Lancashire County Council – but Cllr Bollenberg hopes the group can help provide a voice and enable concerns to be heard.

The group’s first meeting will be held on Thursday (6 February) at Bamber Bridge Catholic & County Club on Brownedge Lane.

He added: “Alan, Robert and myself are hoping that a few of the residents along Queensway, Kingsway, and Carr Street come along and share ideas on what can be done.

“We are aiming to get a petition underway to ask Lancashire County Council for help, and we would like to get volunteers undertaking a study of the number of cars using the roads and how fast they are going so we can show how dangerous the roads have become over many years of being used as a rat run to avoid the traffic lights.”

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