Queens Road set to close to traffic, again, with date now confirmed

New traffic orders, once again closing Queens Road to traffic and validating the town centre cycle lanes, will take effect next week.

‘No Entry’ signs on Queens Road were covered up by contractors just hours after OTS News to Sefton Council as to the legal validity of the lanes last month, noting in Council documents that the lanes had not been legally enforceable for four months.

Sefton Council has now given notice that new orders will take effect from next Friday, 29 July. Existing cycle lane measures on Talbot Street, Chapel Street, Tulketh Street, Hoghton Street, Wesley Street can be fully enforced from this date. Queens Road will be closed to traffic excluding buses and emergency services.

The measures will continue “for a maximum period of 18 months or until the facility is no longer needed, whichever is the earlier.”

Sefton Council will use this extended time to conduct monitoring and viability studies required as part of the funding for the lanes’ initial construction, before deciding on whether to keep the lanes permanently.

A decision on whether the town centre cycle lanes should be made permanent was supposed to be made within 6 months of initial installation, approximately April 2021.

OTS News understands that two motorists were fined for accessing Queen’s Road during the four-month period.