Prison roundabout fears branded 'bizarre'

The discussion related to proposals to build a new prison in rural Lancashire

A highways expert has said suggestions that a planned mini-roundabout would have too many exits to be safe are "bizarre".

The discussion related to proposals to build a new prison in rural Lancashire.

The issue was revisited at the start of the second phase of the re-opened public inquiry into a bid to create a third jail in the village of Ulnes Walton, near Leyland, alongside the existing HMP Garth and HMP Wymott.

The permission for the new 1,700 capacity prison was rejected by Chorley Council in December, 2021, and then by a planning inspector who upheld the decision after an appeal.

'Unusual'

Although Communities Secretary Michael Gove subsequently said he would be “minded to” go against the recommendation of that inspector and approve the development, he resolved only to do so if he could be assured a range of highway issues could be “satisfactorily addressed”.

The Ministry of Justice has told a new public inquiry that it had addressed road safety concerns, cited as reasons for the earlier refusals, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

A transport witness appearing on behalf of the local authority warned that the installation of a mini-roundabout at the junction of the A581 Southport Road, and Ulnes Walton Lane, would have an “extremely unusual” six arms feeding into it.

Kevin Riley argued that the number of exits contravened guidance for mini-roundabout design – and would prevent the inclusion of “splitter islands” in order to improve the safety of the new layout.

When the inquiry resumed on Tuesday, Steven Yeates – a transport expert for the MoJ – said that vehicular access to a property did not constitute an arm, because it would not be part of the “adopted highway”.

The inquiry heard that changes had also been made to the proposed entrance to the new prison, off Moss Lane, in order to reduce the risk of speeding along that route.