2 weeks Ago
A resident is continuing to call on the council to introduce road safety measures to what he describes as a'notoriously dangerous junction' just on his doorstep. Andy Chadwick lives in Adlington , on Westhoughton Road on the junction of Rawlinson Lane just metres from his front door. The dangerous road has been the subject of Parish council concerns for over a decade and has sparked several complaints from residents.
In the eight months, two cars have hit Andy's property which damaged the wall and window of his house costing hundreds of pounds. (Image: Andy Chadwick) A video caught by his CCTV highlights just one of several car crashes occurring on the junction. Another crash hit the gas main at the side of the property in August, which was the second accident-causing direct damage to Andy's property, he sites the junction’s ‘blind bend’ coupled with ‘high speed limits’ for the cause behind the accidents.
(Image: Andy Chadwick) Andy has contacted the Parish Council for help and also Lancashire County Council on multiple occasions to make the Rawlinson Lane junction safer, including the suggestion of traffic lights, a roundabout or a barrier, all of which have been rejected by Lancashire Council. Instead, Mr Chadwick maintains that the council have only moved a thin telephone pole , which belongs to Openreach, a couple of meters backwards. Whilst the council state that said pole was allegedly causing obstructions to driver’s vision, Andy has maintained that this has made little difference.
(Image: Andy Chadwick) READ MORE: Spice-Valley in Egerton shortlisted for Bolton News Award Burnley: Crow Wood Hotel loved by Premier League footballers - review Bygone Over Hulton Exhibition celebrated by Bolton Andy said: “Everything I’ve put forward has been rejected by Lancashire County Council. They haven’t even given the people of Rawlinson Lane a chance to be heard out. “They’ve basically just told me that it’s my problem, it’s my property that keeps getting hit, so I need to find a way to deal with it.
“They constantly blame it on dangerous driving, but the junction itself is dangerous – it's poorly designed and something needs to be done or sooner or later something nasty will happen. There’s too many near misses. (Image: Andy Chadwick) “Everyone who sees it agrees – it’s a hotspot for accidents.
The council are continuing to waste my time. Apparently, they just don’t have it in their budget but it’s disheartening to see nothing at all is being done.” An FOI request to Lancashire County Council revealed that a total of four reported traffic collisions involving pedestrians, vehicles and buildings have occurred on the junction since 2022.
The number of reported collisions, however, does not account for any near misses on the junction, Andy maintains. The Parish Council has flagged the issue of accidents at the junction to the police, the Crime Commissioner and Highways over the last nine months in a bid for improvements to be made. (Image: Andy Chadwick) Cllr Kim Snape has been campaigning for change on the junction for the past fifteen years and has urged the council to “put their money where their mouth is” in order to make it safer.
She also claims that the parish council were advised that “it is only when a person is actually hurt that the accident is recorded in the police/highway’s authority database and that the records are kept for 5 years.” Cllr Snape said: “Ultimately Lancashire County Councillor have badly let us down, they have advised us since May 24 that they had prepared a scheme for improvements to be recommended to their cabinet in Sept 24. “We have now been advised that we will have to wait until the next financial year to find out more on this.
“It’s an absolute shambles.” Cllr Rupert Swarbrick, cabinet member for Highways and Transport said: “When looking into requests for road safety measures, we review police road collision data and take into account the number of injuries before any interventions are considered. "Our budgets are limited, and our resources are prioritised to locations across the county with the poorest road safety records.
"Following concerns from residents, we have investigated the collision history and carried out a speed assessment at this location and installed some temporary signage along Rawlinson Lane. "We will continue to monitor this location and it will be considered for possible road safety measures from our local safety schemes programme in 2025/26." Got a story? E-mail me at Leah.
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