Lancashire County Council's begun a safety review of one of Ormskirk’s busiest road junctions following another bad crash there earlier this month.
https://www.qlocal.co.uk/ormskirk/new...E-55014346.htm

The Fiveways junction was closed for over four hours on Saturday, 10 September - the opening day of the Southport Air Show when traffic was much busier than usual - after a dramatic two car crash; one Police officer on duty said it's one of Lancashire's most dangerous junctions.



Highways Officers were already looking at traffic flow through the junction as preparation for implementing traffic calming measures on Cottage Lane and Halsall Lane, which leads up to the junction and the safety review will now be included in the decision making process.



Traffic monitoring cameras have already been installed at the junction and their data will be reviewed to see what changes may be made to improve the traffic flow and limit the possibility of future crashes.

County Councillor and Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, John Fillis, - who lives just round the corner on Southport Road - told QLocal: “Most of the incidents that occur on this junction are due to driver errors, such as speeding or going through red lights, but we want to be certain that the junction is operating as safely as possible for all those who use it.”

Through the local PACT (Police And Communities Together) meetings for Knowsley and Scott wards, local residents had already made their concerns known about the speed and volume of traffic on nearby roads, with many more signing a petition to review the Fiveways junction following the latest crash.

Knowsley Ward Councillor Nikki Hennessy said: “We’re grateful to local resident, Michelle Aldridge, who started the petition to review the Fiveways as this has made many more people aware of the traffic issues in this area and encouraged several of them to get involved by attending our local PACT meeting.

“We met with the Highways Officers recently to explain to them what the main traffic problems are on Cottage Lane and Halsall Lane, as part of the £66,000 works that we secured for these roads earlier in the year.

“There are many drivers using these roads as a rat run to avoid the lights at the Fiveways, as well as lots of farm traffic, including very large lorries that regularly have to mount the kerb to pass by because they are too wide for these roads.

“We want to make sure that any changes we make on these roads don’t just move the problem to the adjacent roads, so the timing of the Fiveways junction safety review couldn’t be more helpful. The information it provides will help the county officers to offer us some safer options for our roads, which we can then take forward to a full consultation with residents to hear their views.

“Hopefully, the end result will be improved safety on all of the roads and a reduction in the number of accidents at the junction.”

Before they altered this junction 10+ years ago. Travelling to Ormskirk from Southport at the lights there where two lanes. One going straight on and one turning right. They altered the junction and had only one lane. This meant that if you had three or more cars going right, the cars that wanted to go straight on had to wait. Which caused a back up of the traffic. So some drivers would go through the lights on amber as they had waited so long.

I don't think this is a particularly bad junction. If you're a competent driver it should be perfectly safe. No such thing as bad junctions or bad roads, only bad drivers.

Originally Posted by Darkside

No such thing as bad junctions or bad roads, only bad drivers.

Fed up of hearing this adage, it's nonsense. Roads are designed within constraints and budgets by fallible people just like everything else. Just as there are some bad drivers, there are some bad junctions.