Nelson's roads to be revamped to help boost town centre

The New Scotland Road and Leeds Road junction in Nelson will be made greener and safer through the Accessible Nelson scheme.

Roads in an East Lancashire town will be made safer for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists.

Money from Nelson's £25m Town Deal pot will be used to improve junctions and widen footpaths.

Pendle Borough Council said it wanted to improve the flow of traffic around the former mill town.

Scott Whalley, the council's engineering manager, said non-drivers' experiences of Nelson had been "very poor".

He said the scheme, Accessible Nelson, was "about giving a lot more space to pedestrians and cyclists".

Jason Kelly, a trainee engineer on the project, said it was hoped that improvements to the footpaths would encourage people from the nearby college to come up into the town centre more and "pump some life back into the businesses" there.

Tricia Wilson, who is responsible for Pendle's cycling strategy and works in the engineering section of the project, said putting in roundabouts rather than traffic lights would "make it easier for motorists as well as everyone else".

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The project aims to boost the local economy by making it easier to get around Nelson without using a car.

Pendle Borough Council has also received several million pounds' worth of Levelling Up funding to improve Colne's market and is investing in other improvement projects in the area.

The town deal will fund projects over the next 10 years, with £20m of the £25m to come from central government.