Delays on the M6 and surrounding roads when a major incident has happened is of huge concern to my constituents.
My inbox regularly contains concerns from constituents about issues when the M6 is unavailable, which then pushes traffic onto country lanes that are already seeing increased traffic because of housebuilding.
That’s why I’ve convened a multi-organisation taskforce to tackle congestion on the M6 and surrounding roads in Lancashire.
The Lancashire M6 Partnership will meet quarterly and focus on reducing pressure on the road network and addressing some of the challenges when there is a full or partial close of the motorway.
It brings together Lancashire County Council highways department, National Highways, Lancashire Constabulary, North West Ambulance Service and Lancashire Fire and Rescue, along with other MPs.
I wanted to bring together these organisations to see how we can better work together, stay informed of any issues and whether there is anything that we, as MPs, need to take back to Westminster to raise at a higher level.
The first meeting has already generated useful suggestions, such as better use of redirecting traffic through the central reservation, and better communication from the various agencies to warn more clearly about traffic disruption, and actions were taken away to report back at the next meeting.
We also discussed a longer term ambition to see a bridge on the west side of Preston to further ease problems, though this is likely to be a 10-to-20-year ambition.
Roads are never closed on a whim and, where lengthy closures happen, it is necessary to keep emergency services safe and enable vital investigations to take place following a collision. This group will build on the work already being done to keep motorists better informed of any closures and look any solutions to reduce the impact on the rest of the road network.
As we transition to a County Combined Authority, and hopefully eventually full devolution with a mayor for Lancashire, it’s critical that we are working as collaboratively as possible to tackle these strategic challenges for Lancashire, with both short-term and long-term solutions. I’m grateful to all parties for the work they already do to ensure accidents on the M6 are resolved as quickly as possible, and I’m grateful for their appetite to be even more ambitious for how we can keep Lancashire moving.
