Smoother journeys ahead with extra £5.1m for highways

A major new round of improvements to the county's roads has been agreed by Lancashire County Council's cabinet with a focus on fixing and preventing potholes.

The council received a further £5.1m for highways after the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced more money for UK roads in the Spring Budget.

roads before they get too big.

A cannabis grow with around 150 plants has been discovered in Preston. As a result of information from the public, officers gained access to the premises in the Ashton-on-Ribble area, and discovered the grow, along with various equipment including heat lamps.

Evidence was also found that the electricity had been bypassed.

No arrests have been made and enquiries are ongoing.

Operation Warrior is Lancashire Police’s response to tackling serious and organised crime in Lancashire and delivering on Police and Crime

Commissioner Andrew Snowden's Fighting Crime Plan priority of disrupting and dismantling organised crime.

Operation Warrior targets the individuals and gangs involved in crime, as well as associated issues such as violence and intimidation, large scale drug supply, exploitation and fraud, all of which can cause serious harm to local communities.

A report to the council's cabinet this week outlined full details of how the extra funding will be invested, which brings the highways budget for the year to around £35m.

It includes £522k to prevent potholes on Lancashire's most important strategic routes which receive the most wear and tear from heavy goods vehicles. The surface dressing treatment will help to extend their life by sealing small cracks before they become potholes. £265k is also to be invested in applying the same type of treatment to a number of roads in West Lancashire.

More lengths of road will also be fully resurfaced with £255k being committed to replace worn out sections of A, B and C roads, and £530k to repair roundabouts.

An additional £2.5m has been set aside for a range of work to repair and prevent potholes, which includes mini resurfacing schemes for sections of road where potholes are repeatedly appearing, and 'find and fix' work to tackle emerging potholes on rural

A special £250k treatment is due to be applied to James Towers Way near Preston which opened in 2017. This 'varnish' is designed to protect new roads against the early stages of wear caused by weather and traffic, ensuring the best value for money from the original cost of construction.

A further £250k will be used to repair a vital retaining wall next to a reservoir in Chorley, and an extra £550k committed to replace aging streetlighting columns.

County Councillor Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "This is a very busy time for our highways teams as we begin our annual programme of roads maintenance which can only be carried out during the warmer months.

"The extra funding we've received from government is extremely welcome and means we can carry out essential repairs this summer which would otherwise have to be put off for next year, and prevent potholes which would have had to be fixed in the meantime.

"The end of winter is always the worst time for our roads as the cold and wet weather is what causes most of the damage, however the huge programme of work which is now underway means we'll all be able to enjoy smoother journeys by the end of the summer."

Councillors also approved the addition of £795k of external funding to the highways budget related to the redevelopment of the Samlesbury Enterprise Zone, where recycled asphalt from the site will be used to resurface part of the A682 in Rossendale.