New average speed check route in Euxton
27th of September, 2022
The Safer Roads Fund was established by the Department for Transport in 2016 to improve safety on England's 50 most dangerous A-roads. Lancashire County Council made a successful bid for £7.9m to deliver improvements on the five 'high risk' routes which had been identified within the county, with the funding being awarded in 2018. The fund is specifically targeted at delivering road upgrades and improvements with the aim of reducing the number and severity of fatal and serious injury collisions.
The programme of improvements has a section which begins in Euxton, which is:
£1.2m for the A581 Rufford to Euxton – including average speed cameras, measures to highlight the centreline and edge of the road, and extension of the 30mph zone at Ulnes Walton.
The schedule for this work is: A581 Rufford to Euxton September 2022 to December 2022.
Average Speed Cameras
Average speed cameras work by reading the number plate of passing vehicles and calculating a driver's average speed over a known length of road within the same speed limit. This results in drivers maintaining a steady average speed rather than just slowing down when they see a traditional fixed or spot speed camera, delivering safer and smoother traffic flows. There are currently 8 routes already covered by Jenoptik’s SPECS average speed camera enforcement systems in Lancashire, which were installed in 2017 and 2018. Initial evaluation shows there has been a reduction in collisions of up to 86% on these routes.
Speed limits
The speed limit is due to be reduced along some sections of the five routes, following public consultation earlier this year, and the proposals being agreed by Lancashire County Council's cabinet in September 2022