More bus stops for busy Bamber Bridge street where locals say there are 'already enough'

The new facilities are part of a raft of changes being made to boarding points on Station Road in the wake of safety concerns raised by bus operators and highway bosses.

Lancashire County Council’s cabinet has also given the green light to relocating two stops from where they currently stand and introducing enforceable parking restrictions within all of the facilities.

Ten locals objected to the plans, with the majority of concerns focusing on the loss of car parking spaces for businesses along the thoroughfare which will result from the overhaul.

New stops will appear just after the junction with Hopwood Street, on the northbound side of Station Road, and a little past Sergeant Street, for southbound travellers.

The current southbound stop close to McKenzie Street will shift to outside the town’s Methodist church near Wesley Street; and the present northbound facility after Edward Street will move to a point just prior to Smithy Street.

The northbound stop, near Lychfield Drive, and its southbound counterpart – close to Bargain Booze – will be upgraded, with parking restrictions in the vicinity of the latter being extended.

All of the current, relocated and entirely new stops will be made into “clearway” areas, which means that only buses will be able to pull up there. The strict parking prohibition will ensure disabled passengers and travellers with buggies or prams will be able to get on and off buses via the raised kerbs to ensure same-level access.

Two of the stops – the new one at Hopwood Street and the existing facility at Lychfield Drive - will also get new timber-framed shelters, funded by South Ribble Borough Council, to bring them in line with others previously installed elsewhere in the town.

Lostock Hall and Bamber Bridge division councillor Jeff Couperthwaite asked during the cabinet meeting at which the proposal was approved for an explanation of “the rationale” for the extra stops – given that residents “feel we have enough bus stops already”.

Cabinet member for highways and transport Rupert Swarbrick stressed that not all of the stops are used by the same bus services.

He added: “The additional bus stop near Hopwood Street would help to serve improved bus and rail interchange links.

“Perversely, more bus stops means the [path] for buses…coming back out into the traffic flow is eased. In this particular case, the more bus stops you have, the better it is for traffic management,” County Cllr Swarbrick said.

The meeting heard that the relocated bus stop near Smithy Street would ensure that the distance between the hopping on and off points along that stretch of Station Road did not exceed the maximum recommended 400 metres as laid out under accessibility guidance.

‘No waiting at any time’ restrictions will be introduced at Station Road’s junctions with Sergeant Street, Hopwood Street, Wesley Street and Smithy Street to improve visibility for motorists exiting those side roads.

In response to disquiet about the reduction in parking spaces as result of the changes, highways bosses said that any loss would be minimal and noted that parking would be permitted in the two locations which existing bus stops are to vacate.

A report to cabinet members noted that stops based around laybys can cause delays to journey times – because the vehicles have to wait to find a gap into which they can pull out – hence the stops on Station Road largely being located within the carriageway itself.