The Fishergate bus lane cameras are back!
It means, once again, you'll be fined for using the bus lane in Preston City Centre
The Fishergate bus lane cameras in Preston City Centre have been switched back on. It means, you'll be fined for driving on the bus lane, though not until next week.
The council says the whole point of the scheme is to ease traffic flow and provide a boost for shops and businesses.
Thy were first introduced exactly a year ago to tackle the congestion clogging up the area.
But after a few months, and more than 20,000 fines issued, an independent review found the signs for the scheme were inadequate and confusing, so the council had to refund many drivers who'd fallen foul of the new rules.
Now, new signs have been put up and, after a long trial period, the cameras have been switched back on permanently.
Lune Street will be made two-way on an experimental basis from next Monday (13 November) with new access created onto Ringway. This will be trialed for about six months.
The changes on Lune Street were originally planned to coincide with the camera enforcement coming back on Fishergate, but despite the speedy construction of the new link road, it has taken a week longer than hoped to complete them.
As planned, the county council will initially only issue warning notices to people misusing the bus lanes. Warning notices will continue to be issued at least until Lune Street opens for two-way access from the St George's car park.
The council say this is to help make people aware of the changes, ahead of full enforcement restarting again.
Improved permanent signing has been introduced in and around Fishergate, as well as additional temporary signing, to alert motorists ahead of enforcement restarting.
Warning notices will be given out for an initial period of time, to help people's awareness of these changes.
County Councillor Keith Iddon, cabinet member for highways and transport, said:
"There has been a significant increase in the number of drivers ignoring these restrictions since we suspended the camera enforcement, which shows that we need additional measures in place.
"We don't want anyone to get caught out by these cameras, which is why we've introduced a short grace period. We're happy if we don't make a penny from them, as it means that people are doing the right thing.
"These bus lanes have removed an average of 2,700 vehicles every day from the section between Mount Street and Corporation Street. We know that bus journeys have become more reliable and journey times have reduced.
"However we also know that people using the shopping centre car park and through Avenham were particularly affected. The Lune Street changes should help to resolve some of the issues that we identified during the trial period and improve the overall experience in the city centre for drivers and pedestrians."
Four large new signs will be added on Fishergate itself, as well as Fox Street, Lune Street and Chapel Street.
Earlier this year, the independent adjudicator found that the legal order for the bus lane between Mount Street and Corporation Street was properly made, but allowed several appeals on the basis of the "sufficiency" of signing, and suggested changes would be needed.
Since the Fishergate improvement work took place, wider pavements on Fishergate have provided more space for pedestrians, new pavement cafes have been created, and modern street furniture has been introduced, including more seating.
The plans were agreed at a cabinet meeting on Thursday 14 September. The report follows a detailed six-month evaluation and consultation period.
Originally discussed at the cabinet meeting in August, the plans were put on hold while detailed proposals for Lune Street were developed.