15.11.05: Heysham M6 Link --- 'before and after' at Torrisholme.
Looking back towards the Torrisholme Rd / Lancaster Rd corner from the Russell Drive / Lancaster Rd junction - Broadoak entrance is currently on the right hand side where the retaining wall & fencing meet
After major criticism from local people, Lancashire County Council have just exhibited their revised plans for the Heysham M6 Link at Torrisholme. Transport Solutions for Lancaster and Morecambe (TSLM) have prepared computer simulated views, to give residents an idea of what the planners from Preston now have in mind for them.
David Gate, chair of TSLM, said, “After years in design this nightmare is the only deal on offer for the thousands of hapless residents. This quiet leafy suburb will be transformed by a 26ft high concrete rampart cutting straight through the community, carrying noisy and polluting heavy goods vehicles to Heysham Port.
“If this were the answer to the district’s congestion problems I suppose that we would have to put up and shut up, but as the County Council admit, this is not a relief road. What is making people really angry is the fact that all this money is being spent and new traffic is being attracted into the area without properly dealing with the traffic we already have.
“These plans show that nobody has considered people’s health and wellbeing and the environment; the lorries clearly come first.”
Lancashire County Council are about to submit the planning application. Affected residents fear that, despite the controversy, approval will be a mere formality. TSLM hope that the matter will be called in for a public inquiry. “The issue could then drag on for years without any resolve, and nothing will be done about the in-town congestion,” says Mr. Gate, “TSLM has come up with loads of alternatives but the authorities only seem interested in talking tarmac.”
An LCC spokesman said: "The design was a fair representation but there should be footpaths at either side of the bridge, which the image does not make clear."
A TSLM spokesman commented: "LCC's images at their second exhibition didn't even make it clear that there are houses at either side of the bridge on the unpopular link road."
For the full images, follow the links below:
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