On the road to nowhere
They say that 'all roads lead to Rome', meaning that ultimately any route will get you where you want to go. That might have been true in the days of the Roman Empire, but when Caesar Augustus had the Milliarium Aureum built in 20BCE as a focal point for his empire's road system he didn't have to contend with Blackpool Council digging up massive sections of it right in the middle of school term time.
The roads around Blackpool and the Fylde are woefully inadequate at the best of times, but in the past few months we have had Crossley's Bridge closed (for a full 6 months), complete closure of Anchorsholme promenade and the junction at Watson Road, as well as roadworks with temporary traffic lights along Blackpool promenade.
All of this work happening at once is so ill-thought-out that anyone would think they’d done it on purpose. Perhaps Blackpool Council think six months of absolute hell on the roads will make drivers grateful when they return to the mess we had before? Certainly, if anyone knows how to engineer traffic chaos, it is the town that came up with the Illuminations.
A good road network is absolutely essential in this area, because nearly everybody commutes. If you live in Thornton there is nowhere local to work except for a couple of ironing shops and a petrol station. The only major employer in Cleveleys was the Norcross civil service site, but now most of that has closed and seen work relocated to other sites in Blackpool. True, Fleetwood has its own Job Centre Plus, but people from outside still have to commute in to work at it, otherwise there'd be nobody to hand out the dole money.
The closure of Crossley's Bridge is particularly divisive, as it has forced people trying to get from the north of the coast to the south to take one of the two outer routes - either clogging up the promenade and Devonshire Road to the West or roads through Thornton and Poulton to the East. This morning we received reports that there was more than a mile of traffic in Little Thornton stretching from The River Wyre roundabout right back to Stanah Primary school. Traffic was crawling along the entire of the promenade from the Pleasure beach back to Anchorsholme. Devonshire Road was completely gridlocked from Warbreck Hill Road all the way into town as traffic attempted to merge from all directions. Commuters leaving the Fylde altogether via the A585 reported that it took over an hour just to reach Windy Harbour junction. No matter where you begin or where you are trying to get to, the traffic situation around this area is enough to reduce anybody to tears. We have come to expect massive delays, people coming from multiple directions, and general confusion - a bit like waiting to be served at Moor Park Leisure Centre, but far, far worse.
Local MP for Cleveleys Paul Maynard has been blogging on his website about traffic problems in the area for years. Given that Paul is also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport you would expect he has all the connections to put things right, but so far he hasn’t done much. A couple of years ago he invited the minister for transport to visit and Paul drove him through the traffic chaos so he could see it for himself, but frankly anyone from perma-gridlocked London is unlikely to be overawed by our traffic problems. A Londoner would be pleased by a car that is able to move at all. It may even have been his first time in a car and he could have been distracted by the excitement of it all.
In fact Paul’s only real landmark achievement is that he successfully prevented the Department of Transport from turning Norcross roundabout into a traffic light controlled junction, something that could possibly have equalised the traffic on Amounderness Way and Fleetwood Road North making it a fairer route for people exiting Thornton. According to Paul’s website this would only have cost £1, so they could at least have tried it out!
There are of course proposals for a new road that would link drivers from Windy Harbour directly to Thornton and Fleetwood without getting caught up in the Cleveleys, Poulton and Blackpool traffic. But what about a bridge between Fleetwood and Knott End? This would boost Fleetwood’s economy, inviting people in the rural areas to shop there. Also it could make an alternative route for people in Cleveleys and Fleetwood to access Lancaster and the Lake District, alleviating some of that stress on the A585. Yet instead of this they are planning to build a hydro-electric power dam which may or may not have a foot bridge across it. Fat lot of good that will do. And how about the old disused train line from Thornton to Poulton? That could become a road. They just aren’t thinking, are they?
It would be nice if there was an alternative to taking your car to work. Public transport? Don’t make me laugh! Maybe Clive Sinclair had the answer with the C5. They were unreliable deathtraps, yet they suddenly seem a viable option under the circumstances. Unless something is done about the roads then the future of transport in Blackpool is probably landaus. True, the horses dump all over the roads, but not as much as Blackpool Council have.
The roads around Blackpool and the Fylde are woefully inadequate at the best of times, but in the past few months we have had Crossley's Bridge closed (for a full 6 months), complete closure of Anchorsholme promenade and the junction at Watson Road, as well as roadworks with temporary traffic lights along Blackpool promenade.
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| Traffic around Blackpool is at breaking point. |
All of this work happening at once is so ill-thought-out that anyone would think they’d done it on purpose. Perhaps Blackpool Council think six months of absolute hell on the roads will make drivers grateful when they return to the mess we had before? Certainly, if anyone knows how to engineer traffic chaos, it is the town that came up with the Illuminations.
A good road network is absolutely essential in this area, because nearly everybody commutes. If you live in Thornton there is nowhere local to work except for a couple of ironing shops and a petrol station. The only major employer in Cleveleys was the Norcross civil service site, but now most of that has closed and seen work relocated to other sites in Blackpool. True, Fleetwood has its own Job Centre Plus, but people from outside still have to commute in to work at it, otherwise there'd be nobody to hand out the dole money.
The closure of Crossley's Bridge is particularly divisive, as it has forced people trying to get from the north of the coast to the south to take one of the two outer routes - either clogging up the promenade and Devonshire Road to the West or roads through Thornton and Poulton to the East. This morning we received reports that there was more than a mile of traffic in Little Thornton stretching from The River Wyre roundabout right back to Stanah Primary school. Traffic was crawling along the entire of the promenade from the Pleasure beach back to Anchorsholme. Devonshire Road was completely gridlocked from Warbreck Hill Road all the way into town as traffic attempted to merge from all directions. Commuters leaving the Fylde altogether via the A585 reported that it took over an hour just to reach Windy Harbour junction. No matter where you begin or where you are trying to get to, the traffic situation around this area is enough to reduce anybody to tears. We have come to expect massive delays, people coming from multiple directions, and general confusion - a bit like waiting to be served at Moor Park Leisure Centre, but far, far worse.
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| The closure of Crossley's Bridge has led to extreme measures by motorists. |
Local MP for Cleveleys Paul Maynard has been blogging on his website about traffic problems in the area for years. Given that Paul is also Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport you would expect he has all the connections to put things right, but so far he hasn’t done much. A couple of years ago he invited the minister for transport to visit and Paul drove him through the traffic chaos so he could see it for himself, but frankly anyone from perma-gridlocked London is unlikely to be overawed by our traffic problems. A Londoner would be pleased by a car that is able to move at all. It may even have been his first time in a car and he could have been distracted by the excitement of it all.
In fact Paul’s only real landmark achievement is that he successfully prevented the Department of Transport from turning Norcross roundabout into a traffic light controlled junction, something that could possibly have equalised the traffic on Amounderness Way and Fleetwood Road North making it a fairer route for people exiting Thornton. According to Paul’s website this would only have cost £1, so they could at least have tried it out!
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| The website of MP Paul Maynard says a new junction would have cost just £1 |
There are of course proposals for a new road that would link drivers from Windy Harbour directly to Thornton and Fleetwood without getting caught up in the Cleveleys, Poulton and Blackpool traffic. But what about a bridge between Fleetwood and Knott End? This would boost Fleetwood’s economy, inviting people in the rural areas to shop there. Also it could make an alternative route for people in Cleveleys and Fleetwood to access Lancaster and the Lake District, alleviating some of that stress on the A585. Yet instead of this they are planning to build a hydro-electric power dam which may or may not have a foot bridge across it. Fat lot of good that will do. And how about the old disused train line from Thornton to Poulton? That could become a road. They just aren’t thinking, are they?
It would be nice if there was an alternative to taking your car to work. Public transport? Don’t make me laugh! Maybe Clive Sinclair had the answer with the C5. They were unreliable deathtraps, yet they suddenly seem a viable option under the circumstances. Unless something is done about the roads then the future of transport in Blackpool is probably landaus. True, the horses dump all over the roads, but not as much as Blackpool Council have.
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