HAVING been thwarted by the electorate in Hyndburn, it appears that Lancashire County Council is now targeting other areas for traffic calming, including further measures on the A59.

However, it appears that at long last LCC has seen the light and is now attempting to introduce road safety measures which do not increase pollution, potentially damage vehicles, injure drivers with back problems, or produce potential hazards for cyclists.

The new chevroned boxes introduced to alert drivers to the crossroads on the A59 at Whitehalgh Lane and Chapel Lane, Langho, look promising, as on first impression, they appear very much like the road markings used with speed cameras.

But the westbound chevron warning box is poorly sited as the oncoming car driver's view of it is obscured by the brow of the slight hill just before. The original crossroad warning signs are visible before the box, so perhaps the new boxes are too close to the junction to give effective warning to drivers unfamiliar with the road.

With proper local planning and consulation with drivers who actually use the roads on a regular basis, these new 'speed cushions' could replace the humps and islands on all main routes in towns.

Road safety meassures have cost a fortune over the past 10 years, but while some may have been beneficial, others may have been sought for other reasons and perhaps expensive traffic islands or street lighting installed at almost-deserted rural junctions were simply an excuse to provide a cheap power supply for roadside in-car navigation beacons.

Now, the cost of LCC street lighting is said to be well over £7 million.

Street lighting on remote open stretches of rural trunk road could perhaps have once been justified to use up energy from the old coal-fired power stations which could not cope with sudden power demands, but now, most have been replaced by gas and closed down.

Perhaps it is a case of local authorities being encouraged in the 1990s to provide guaranteed income for the privatised power generators.

G PYE, Downham Road, Chatburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.