Revealed: Lancashire's slowest road

Traffic chiefs have revealed the main route with the slowest moving traffic in Lancashire.
Lancashire's slowest moving road is in WyreLancashire's slowest moving road is in Wyre
Lancashire's slowest moving road is in Wyre

The Department for Transport figures show the A585 southbound between A588 South and A588 North had the slowest moving traffic among the major roads in Lancashire in 2018.

Along the stretch of Mains Lane close to the River Wyre pub vehicles travelled at an average of just 32mph – though this was a 15 per cent improvement on 2017, when speeds averaged 27.8mph.

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At the other end of the scale, vehicles sped along the M61 southbound between J8 and J6 and the M61 southbound at the Bolton West Services between J8 and J6 at an average of 74.3mph – making them the fastest sections of road in the area.

The figures include measurements taken at 184 places on the strategic road network – major routes managed by Government-owned company Highways England – in Lancashire.

They also show that the longest delays in the area were on the A585 southbound between A588 South and A588 North, with drivers losing 39.3 seconds every mile when compared with the pace they would have made at the speed limit.

Across England, motorists suffered a 3.9 per cent increase in delays on motorways and major A roads last year. Journeys took an average of 9.4 seconds per mile longer than if vehicles were able to drive at the speed limit, according to the DfT, up from 9.0 seconds during the previous year.

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It suggests that driving along a 10-mile section of road with a 60mph limit typically took 11 minutes and 34 seconds last year, compared with 10 minutes in free flow conditions.RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said: “More congestion means more wasted time and money, which is clearly bad news for drivers, but it may be a case of short-term pain for longer term gain.

“Much work is being carried out on our motorways to improve capacity by upgrading them to smart motorways, but this inevitably causes delays. Nonetheless, extra capacity is badly needed as Britain now has around 38 million vehicles registered for use, and in the 10 years from 2007 more than four million extra vehicles came on to the road.”

A DfT spokeswoman said: “This government is determined to improve journeys for all motorists, which is why we’re investing nearly £29bn to reduce congestion on our roads up to 2025.“We are also investing £3.1bn in local projects to make road travel smoother, while our £2.5bn Transforming Cities Fund will develop innovative public transport schemes to further tackle congestion in some of England’s biggest cities.”