Residents and small business owners in an area of Lancashire have branded a council’s decision to carry out several roadwork schemes at the same time “shambolic”. Earlier this month temporary traffic lights were installed at Ewood, where the pavements are being widened as part of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council’s ‘active travel’ scheme – causing tailbacks right back to Darwen, says Lancashire Live.
Once the work is complete, pavements will be ‘shared’ between pedestrians and cyclists in a bid to encourage more people to cycle and walk to work. However, residents have accused the council of preventing them from being able to get to work at all.
At the same time as the Ewood roadworks, the main road through Darwen, the A666, is being closed overnight for a major resurfacing scheme, and at times Bog Height Road – connecting Darwen to Blackburn via Feniscowles or Cherry Tree – has also been closed. There have also been additional closures on Roman Road and Pole Lane.
One of the council’s active travel routes will run from Jack Walker Way at Ewood to Haslingden Road via Fishmoor Drive. A spokesperson for the council explained that active travel means walking/wheeling or cycling to get to where you need to go. Widened footways will be “accessible for all”.
When the £30 million plans to improve the roads and network were announced, Councillor Quesir Mahmood, deputy leader of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, who is also the authority’s executive member for growth and development, said: “Residents tell us that improving our roads and the way they get around our borough is incredibly important to them and so this is a scheme we’re really pleased to be able to bring forward.
“As part of more than £125 million of new investment that we have successfully secured in recent years for our borough, we were awarded £20 million for transport mprovements South East Blackburn in and around Junction five of the M65 and wider. Of course, we want to make the most of every single penny of that for our residents and businesses and have been working on detailed plans for the two different projects – the widening of Junction five of the M65 and in what is known as active travel routes, pretty much anything that doesn’t involve getting around in a car.”
(Pic: Yay Images)
