The Blackburn Orbital Route
(A6078)
The
A6078 is a recent invention - the original A6078 was in Northumberland,
but the number has been allocated to Blackburn Council for use on the
notorious Orbital Route. This very road was possibly one of the most
controversial transport issues in the town, barring the original M65 plans. It
revolved around a strategic action plan for Blackburn Town Centre,
which was designed to remove through traffic from Blackburn's congested
central core. The original through route was the A666 which ran along
Church Street. In 1999, plans were announced for the closure of this
vital street, as the council claimed it was bisecting the cathedral
from the rest of the town centre, and if the town's regeneration was to
be successful, all pedestrian movements had to be catered for.
The
original plan simply suggested the creation of an "orbital route" for
through traffic, but this never really specified in great detail -
those plans seemingly never existed, although suffice to say, the A6078
is loosely based on a 1975 plan, which would've provided
grade-seperated junctions, and even the alignment for the proposed M65
of that era!
On
May 21 2001, Church Street closed to all traffic, and the
pedestrianisation scheme was implemented fully. Work on the Orbital was
set back, and did not commence properly until late 2001,
when Canterbury Street was closed for junction improvements (Oct 7
2001), and when a new gyratory was created at Townsmoor (Oct 28
2001). Before that, Audley Junction was remodelled from a double
mini-roundabout to a traffic light junction (finished November 2001),
which caused some confusion at first! The whole scheme was well
underway by December 2001, with most junctions open by then, and
traffic flow over the Victorian bridge at Freckleton Street reversed.
However, work continued way into 2002, with construction of the
Barbara Castle Way Extension, and in June 2003, that road opened. The
route was declared complete, but improvements were set to continue - in
late 2003, the Copy Nook improvement opened - which saw the road
widened to a small dual carriageway (albeit with a bus lane), and
improvements to Copy Nook Gyratory.
In
early 2005, plans were approved for a new bridge to replace the
creaking structure at Freckleton Street. The new bridge will commence
construction in 2006, and be open by 2008. Preliminary works are
already underway, with the demolition of the derelict Brewer's Arms
complete.
The
area at Townsmoor altered slightly when B&Q opened a warehouse
off the junction, on the top of the former Jepson's Mill site - this
meant the end of St. Ann's Street, Kay Street, and Mayfield Street. The
orbital tour photo gallery predates all this (the photos were taken in
August 2003).
The A6078 was not placed on signs until mid-2005, and signage modifications are still being carried out as of July 2005.
However,
the road is not the world's greatest - indeed, it has an annoying habit
of being gridlocked even at 7pm on some evenings, but it does mean
traffic is able to bypass the town centre, which is becoming harder and
harder to traverse as each month passes. Compared to, say, the
Coventry Ring Road, the A6078 is rather shambolic and is actually an
embarrassment to the town in terms of efficiency and traffic
management. Whilst not particularly condoning the suggestion of vast
demolition to widen the ring to full D2 standard, I can safely say that
the rights of way are certainly large enough to accomodate this, and
it'd make my commute home (as well as plenty of other people's) much
much easier!
