Speed cameras set for October

Work to install average speed cameras on a key road into Blackpool will not begin until October, The Gazette can reveal.
Cameras will be installed on the A583Cameras will be installed on the A583
Cameras will be installed on the A583

High-tech speed cameras will be put on a 7.5 mile stretch of the A583 between Peel Corner and Clifton, which includes the Kirkham bypass.

It is one of eight routes in Lancashire which is part of Lancashire Road Safety Partnership’s £2.15m scheme.

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Work is scheduled to begin in October and completed the following month. The speed limit along the majority of the route is 50mph.

Cameras are also being installed on the A588 between Pilling and Preesall with work set to take place in April.

That road, which links Poulton to Lancaster and runs through the villages of Stalmine and Hambleton, has claimed more than a dozen lives over the last 15 years.

It is hoped the introduction of average speed cameras, which monitor a driver’s speed, will help bring down the accident rate on both routes.

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Average speed check signage will be used to inform drivers that they are entering an average speed control zone.

Work began yesterday on the first of the eight locations involved in the scheme – the A6 London Road, Preston, between the Capitol Centre (Winery Road) and Albyn Street East

Lancashire Police’s assistant chief constable Tim Jacques, chairman of the Lancashire Road Safety Partnership, insisted safety not profit was behind the move.

He said: “We don’t want to catch you speeding. Our primary aim is for all drivers to adhere to the safe speed limits on our roads, and these particular roads are proven to be amongst some of our most dangerous.

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“It is well researched and documented that speeding can kill, but we know that a combination of education, engineering and enforcement can change behaviours and save lives. This is particularly important where there are recurring problems.”

Other locations include the A656 Southport Road (1.2m), A59 Brockholes Brow, Preston (0.5m), A675 Belmont (8.5m), A682 Gisburn Road, Pendle (5.2m) and B6232 Grane Road, Haslingden (4.7m).