Bolton Council is set to reduce the length of a bus lane after a series of crashes on a Bolton road as part of a ‘series of measures’ being introduced around St Helens Road to improve road safety. In June, grandmother Karen Kimblin was killed in a crash near the Asda on St Helens Road , with another crash just over a week later leaving a cyclist in hospital. Later in July, another crash left a car overturned on St Helens Road – leading to further calls for action.
Later that month, Bolton Council was granted ‘safer roads funding’ by the government in order to invest in improvements on the road. Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox. A meeting was held between local MPs, police, and representatives from the council to discuss concerns last week.
Town Hall chiefs say the bus lane opposite Asda will now be reduced in length to allow motorists to move over to the left lane to bypass right turning traffic into Asda supermarket. In addition, the council has been awarded £1 million from the Safer Roads Fund, a government initiative to introduce road safety interventions. (Image: NQ) It says this will be invested into making St Helens Road and Derby Street safer for all road users.
Plans on how the funding will be spent are still being drawn up for approval by councillors, but Bolton Council says the plans will focus on camera enforcement and behavioural change. Further camera and data gathering is planned to enhance pedestrian sa.