Safer Roads Fund programme

Safer Roads Fund bannerThe 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 is as follows:

  • £1.2m for average speed cameras on the A6 from Lancaster city centre through Scotforth and Galgate to J33 of the M6
  • £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
  • £1.9m for the A588 from Lancaster's Pointer roundabout to Skippool – including average speed cameras over 26km, and measures to highlight the centreline and edge of the road, and cycle safety measures at the Pointer Roundabout
  • £449,000 for the A682 from Barrowford to Long Preston – including average speed cameras over 8km, solar-powered road studs to highlight the centreline, and rumble strips to highlight the edge of the road over 13km
  • £3.1m for the A683 from the M6 J34 at Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale – including average speed cameras over the whole length, 3.5km of roadside safety barriers, widening the footway over Hornby Bridge, high reflectivity road markings and cats eyes to aid drivers

Offences recorded by the average speed cameras will be processed by Lancashire Constabulary.

Work to date

A range of work has already taken place to improve safety on the five routes, with the aspects of the programme which involve upgrades such as installing LED cats eyes, high-reflectivity road markings and safety barriers now having been delivered.

Installation

Work began in September 2022 to install the average speed cameras and is currently ongoing. This includes a period of testing needed after the cameras are installed before they can be made operational and begin being used by the police to enforce speed limits.

You can see maps of the affected roads are as follows. The installation is being carried out by Jenoptik, the company which manufacturers the cameras, which is working closely with Lancashire County Council's highways team to deliver the programme.

Map of all affected roads (PDF 1.2 MB)

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.

Traffic management

We expect the installation of the cameras to be carried out with fairly minimal disruption to traffic and nearby residents and businesses. Some traffic management will be needed for the safety of those working near the roadside while the cameras are being installed, and as work follows to connect them to the electricity supply, however this will be carefully managed to minimise the impact on traffic.

Speed limits

The speed limit is due to be reduced along some sections of the five routes, following public consultation, and the proposals being agreed by Lancashire County Council's cabinet.