Posted by 
A Preston councillor who has campaigned against a new bus lane running on part of a busy road in his ward says people feel ‘unheard and undervalued’ as the work begins on New Hall Lane this week.
Lancashire County Council is pushing ahead with the 450-yeard stretch of bus lane which will be enforced with cameras.
St Matthews ward councillor Suleman Sarwar organised a petition against the bus lane which he says had the support of local people and businesses.
Read more: Eight areas of Preston due for a new look and major changes in next 12 months
The county council will begin work on Thursday (2 January) to put in the bus lane between Fishwick Road to Witton Street on the Preston-bound section of New Hall Lane.
Cllr Sarwar told Blog Preston: “As someone who raised the petition against this scheme, which was signed by 367 residents, I am deeply disappointed that Lancashire County Council has decided to proceed despite strong public opposition. It feels as though the genuine concerns of the local community have been ignored in favour of a decision that risks causing significant disruption to residents and businesses along New Hall Lane.
“Many residents have voiced their complaints about this project, yet these concerns appear to have been met with silence or vague responses. Decisions of this scale require council officers to be accessible and transparent, but unfortunately, this has not been the case here. The lack of meaningful engagement with the community is particularly frustrating.
“There are also serious questions about the fines that will inevitably be generated by this bus lane. With reports of other bus lanes in Preston generating over a million pounds in fines, residents are rightly asking where this money will go. Will it be reinvested into improving roads and infrastructure for New Hall Lane, or will it be absorbed into other council budgets? The lack of clarity on this is deeply concerning.
“This decision has left many residents feeling unheard and undervalued. I would urge Lancashire County Council to reflect on how they’ve handled this process and take steps to address the community’s concerns more effectively moving forward.”
The bus lane work is due to take around three weeks but no date has been given for when bus lane fines will start to be issued by cameras enforcing the new bus lane – the ninth bus-only area in the city.
The county council has defended the need for a bus lane saying it is to improve reliability of bus services using the A59.
Cabinet member for highways and transport, county councillor Rupert Swarbrick, said: “The aim of the scheme is to improve public transport journey times and timetable reliability by reallocating the carriageway width to create a lane dedicated for use by buses and cycles exclusively.
“This will allow public transport to move more seamlessly through the junction, allowing buses to bypass congestion and cut journey times, particularly during peak travel periods.”
The bus lane also signals the start of further plans for the Preston city centre end of New Hall Lane where the county council plan in the coming months to do work on the junction where it meets the A6 London Road.
Subscribe: Keep in touch directly with the latest headlines from Blog Preston, join our WhatsApp channel and subscribe for our twice-a-week email newsletter. Both free and direct to your phone and inbox.
Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines
