A FINAL draft of how the controversial bus lane plans will affect Hyndburn has been unveiled.

Council officers at a public meeting to discuss the plans said they believed the re-drafted scheme would also encourage bus operators Transdev to substantially invest in new vehicles.

Consultants for Lancashire County Council, Capita Symons, have produced a revised sketch of how the £50m Pennine Reach bus route will affect Hyndburn, following lengthy consultation and debate in the area.

However contraversial plans to introduce no loading and parking restrictions on Union Road, Oswaldtwistle between 8.30-9.30am 4.30-6.30pm remain.

Plans to move Accrington Bus Station to Edgar Street remain unchanged as do plans to create a double roundabout for the Church Gateway junction.

The main alteration to the scheme is that residents affected on Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors between the Hare and Hounds and Greyhound pubs, will be given extra parking on back streets.

Coun Nick Colllingridge, representing Clayton-le-Moors, said: “It is a small but important change. I am not entirely happy but it is the best compromise we will get.”

Although plans were described as “the best compromise we’re going to get” by Lancashire County Council’s transport officer Chris Enslow, Coun Wendy Dwyer, acting as temporary chairman of Hyndburn’s Lancashire Local Committee said there was still time for plans to be ‘tweaked’.

She said: “This scheme is going back 10 years and came about when bus operators were telling us that congestion was increasingly making their services unattractive and unreliable.

"A lot of people have worked on this scheme but that is not to say it is set in stone, there will be an inevitable tweaking of plans.”

Mr Enslow said: “A year of in-depth consultation and listening to the legitimate concerns of the public have led to fairly substantial changes in the scheme.

"We now think we have got the best compromise we will achieve.

“We carried out further consultation, particulary in Clayton-le-Moors where the heaviest traffic is.

"The scheme we are left with meets government criteria and we are confident of the bid being succesful.

"It also allows Transdev to go to their directors and make a strong case for major investment.”

Ian Richardson from Capita Symons, said: “If we don’t get this money, it will go to Liverpool or Manchester and we will have lost out again.”



Great Harwood

  • An artist’s impression of changes to Great Harwood Town Hall Square show planting, natural materials and co-ordinated seating and street furniture.
  • New bus shelters will be located on the junction of Park Road and Queen Street, with a widened footpath to accomodate possible cycle parking and to provide easy access for buses.
  • Road widening of a section of Park Road to improve parking, traffic and bus movements.
  • Proposed traffic signal junction at Hyndburn Road and Whalley Road, to be paid for by private developers.

Clayton Le Moors

  • Junction of Whalley Road and Sparth Road junction to be fitted with special bus-priority traffic signals which will improve pedestrian crossing.
  • These junctions will also be reproduced on another four of Whalley Road’s junctions with Burnley Road and Church Lane.
  • Proposed drop-off bays at the day nursery on Whalley Road.
  • No on-street parking at Cumberland Avenue but improvements to on-street parking to Warwick Avenue.
  • Nine proposed parking spaces in Mill Street
  • Widening of Whalley Road at junction with Duke Street, and bus stop relocated to other side of junction.
  • Junction of Whalley Road to be fitted with special bus-priority traffic signals which wil improve pedestrian crossing.
  • Shared cycleway and footway on Whalley Road near to Blackburn Road junction.
  • 19 private residential spaces to be provided off Henry Street.
  • Three other adjacent parking sites of similar size identified as ‘potential’ parking for the area in the Frank and William Street area.

Accrington

  • Two junctions in Whalley Road with Brunswick Terrace and Fox Street to be fitted with special bus-priority traffic signals which will improve pedestrian crossing.
  • The same junctions are also planned on Blackburn Road for Willows Lane and Oxford Street junctions.