Quarry means new M6 junction needed

4:35pm Wednesday 30th April 2008

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I suspect the accident record for the short stretch of the M6 at Charnock Richard Services is virtually nil, whilst that for the A49 between Leyland and Standish is not.

Closing the access roads to traffic will push all the vehicles which use it on to the A49.

This is not a very wide road in general, especially through Standish. At present the traffic using the Standish junction during the evening peak hour is so great that traffic lights were installed to help prevent queues on the motorway.

Any increase of traffic will make the situation worse, in fact dangerous.

All this extra traffic on the A49 will only increase the number of accidents as I am sure the Highway Authority and the police know. With the advent of the proposed quarry near Euxton there will be a significant increase in HGVs.

If, as the report says, most of these vehicles will be going southwards the roads in Standish will be saturated.

Would it not be an idea to press for a new junction on to the M6 for the Chorley area at this time?

If Southport Road was used, a new road to the quarry site could also be constructed as part of the planning agreement. This would remove a significant amount of traffic off the A49 and perhaps answer the objections to the site on traffic grounds.

Peter J Wilson Traffic engineer retired