We're getting a bypass

[gnasher]

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7855880.stm

[WillowTheWhisp]

There was an item on the BBC tv news which showed a map of where the new road will go. Has anyone seen an online version of the map? It's got to beat the traffic congestion in Lancaster at peak times.

[accykeef]

The traffic congestion at peak times in Lancaster is caused by local traffic going round the merry-go-round which is Lancaster City Centre. No amount of new roads will ease that problem. The other bottle neck is between Lancaster and Morecambe and vice verca. The new road will have no effect on either of these hold-ups.

[WillowTheWhisp]

But it will stop other people from getting bogged down in it. Maybe they are thinking of those.

[gnasher]

The other bottle neck is between Lancaster and Morecambe and vice verca. The new road will have no effect on either of these hold-ups.

Having spent the last 29 years doing the morecambe-lancaster-morecambe run at normal office hours, I am fairly sure it will have a major effect. A large amount of traffic around 8am and 5pm are HGVs which frequently get stuck because of inconsiderate drivers not leaving enough room. The one way system is so crap that one stuck HGV can screw everything up.

I will be using the new road to get out towards the M6 quickly then head back into town and the car parks around edward street.

[kidstypike]

Jan 28, 2009 20:21:59 GMT accykeef said:

The traffic congestion at peak times in Lancaster is caused by local traffic going round the merry-go-round which is Lancaster City Centre. No amount of new roads will ease that problem. The other bottle neck is between Lancaster and Morecambe and vice verca. The new road will have no effect on either of these hold-ups.

The new road, if built is bound to relieve the congestion in and around Lancaster.

Traffic arrriving from the south on the M6 for Mcbe/Heysham

This traffic would miss Lancaster altogether releving the city centre, Caton Road and the Greyhound Bridge.


Traffic arriving from the north on the M6 for Mcbe/Heysham

Either as now through Carnforth (mainly light vehicles) or as above.

Traffic leaving Mcbe/Heysham heading south

These can use the new road and M6 instead of going into Lancaster and Caton Road.

This leaves the Morecambe Road route just for those going from Mcbe/Heysham into Lancaster.

[accykeef]

I too have spent a number of years doing that journey except mine was Morecambe to the M6 and back again at night. Fortunately I no longer do that journey and certainly don't miss it. To get a proper idea of traffic flow we would need details of a traffic census carried out at various points throughout the area. The traffic congestion in this area is complicated by the large number of starting points and destinations. I used to travel out of Morecambe in the morning at 8am and there was a noticeable difference in traffic levels when the schools were on holiday. I still believe that the majority of traffic is travelling locally between Lancaster, Morecambe and Heysham and the reverse.
Also, the level of traffic coming into Lancaster from the M6 didn't seem to vary much but was extremely busy without knowing the destination of all those vehicles it is impossible to see what effect this new road would have.

The fact that the new road has numerous junctions will just ensure it gets clogged up with local traffic and make no difference to through traffic at all. The botle neck will just be moved to another place.

[trevnhil]

gnasher, I agree with your view. Whilst I can understand people who will be living 'in it's shadow' being upset, there are some properties in the area that it may increase in value. Property in Slyne for instance will be out of sight and out of earshot of the new road. And yet how much easier it will be for the owners to reach the M6 motorway.

Regards. Trev..

[WillowTheWhisp]

Will people be compensated where the road goes right by their houses?

[gnasher]

Will people be compensated where the road goes right by their houses?

Should they be compensated? Anyone that has bought in the area affected by the road since the 60s should be looking to their solicitor for compensation if they didn't know about it. If they knew about it, why did they buy a house near a proposed new road?

[trevnhil]

I would think that after it is built some people will try to get a reduction in their council tax via a lower council tax band. But this is a double edged sword because it would reduce the price you could ask for your property when you come to sell it..

Regards. Trev..

[WillowTheWhisp]

So has the route been known since the 60s? I thought this was only a recent decision.

[gnasher]

First discussed in 1949, the path of the route being built was announced in 1962 and since then the planners have protected a "Corridor of Protection for Highway". The council have bought land to protect that corridor in 1966 and 1974. Anyone buying property close to the route in the last 47 years have done so knowing the road might be built.

[WillowTheWhisp]

Thanks gnasher, but now I'm more confused because I thought that until recently it was still being debated as to where this road ought to be going through - or is that a different road? I'm thinking in particular of the suggested route through the White Lund industrial estate, which seemed like a good idea to me.

[gnasher]

It's obviously been debated for 47 years but the route we've ended up with is just about the route first thought up 47 years ago.

There's also a line of land through the centre of lancaster kept clear in case it went that way. From comet/currys/halfords you can just about draw a straight line through car parks to the other side of the hospital.