Burnley residents have their say on Town 2 Turf Levelling Up project from Lancashire County Council and Burnley Borough Council

The Burnley Express has written several articles on the project since it first came to light.

Designed to improve links between Burnley town centre and Turf Moor, the scheme will see the roundabout at the junction of Yorkshire Street and Church Street being replaced by a traffic light junction with pedestrian crossings, the subway under Centenary Way being closed and the area landscaped, changes to the road system around the bus station, new pedestrian crossings, and improved paving, seating, and lighting.

It will form part of a “regeneration corridor” from the Weavers’ Triangle (and all the work connected to the expansion of UCLan) through the shopping centre to the football stadium.

The change to a traffic light junction is designed to improve pedestrian safety and boost links between the town centre and Turf Moor. The changes will also improve traffic flows and “future proof” the area against future developments in the area. There will be public realm improvements to create a pleasant, safe, relaxing place where people can gather.

The scheme is being funded through Levelling Up grant money and other funding and undertaken in partnership between Burnley Council, Lancashire County Council and Burnley Football Club.

Alas, as with many large public realm projects these days, inevitably work has fallen behind schedule, causing anguish and frustration to motorists and other residents who have made thier feelings known in the comments sections of our stories posted on social media.

Some 345 comments were made on our latest Facebook post, some of which can be found below:

Lisa Emmett said: “Why fix what isn’t broken? the roundabout has been there forever and never had any problems!! it was much better to look at too than a bunch of traffic lights! many better ways to spend money! i.e the dreadful roads full of potholes!”

Jean Walker said: “£6million spent wisely could have made a huge difference to Burnley but spending it to improve access to the football club is a dreadful waste. If Levelling Up money is being used for this project I have no confidence in either LCC or Burnley Council.”

Jackie Sherburn said: “Massive width pavements and narrow road lane on Yorkshire Street. I know it’s to slow traffic down but this is ridiculously narrow. The town centre will become gridlocked. How is a bus and a van supposed to get through the Culvert in that Narrow space - passing each other outside the Royal Dyche area will be impossible. So badly thought out. The roundabout system worked - this has just been an expensive waste of money. The roads in Lancashire are crumbling, I am sick of driving down potholes, but at least we have a nice pavement at the Culvert!”

Claire Hall said: “All the other roads are now awful and full of potholes due to the excess traffic trying to avoid town. The streets around the Turf and Towneley are disgusting with dog muck , litter and autumn leaves which have turned to mulch.

“Money would have been better spent on cleaning the streets - especially after a match as some fans struggle to put litter in the bins. The good thing about the town to turf is the amount of bins provided , but this doesn’t help the surrounding streets where fans park outside residents’ houses and walk to the turf dropping litter as they go.”

Meanwhile, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Burnley and Padiham Oliver Ryan has called for Lancashire County Council and partners to “pull their finger out” and slammed the “traffic chaos” in Burnley town centre which has emerged as a result of the delayed scheme.

Mr Ryan has been contacted by several concerned residents and businesses, who feel the increase in traffic has negatively affected their quality of life, business footfall and supply chains. Traffic delays have been experienced on Yorkshire Street, Parliament Street, Centenary Way, Westgate, Church Street and around the town centre.

Mr Ryan said: “I've sat in the traffic myself, Burnley is completely gridlocked. The sheer amount of roadworks going on throughout the town has brought everyone to a standstill, its completely frustrating.

“Clearly, I can see the economic benefit of attracting more Turf Moor visitors to our town centre, but the areas around Yorkshire Street, Parliament Street, Centenary Way, Church Street and Westgate around the town centre is at total standstill for a large proportion of the day. Lancashire County Council and its engineering partners must speed up the works, pull their finger out and free up our roads once again!”

These works are part of a package of projects in and around Burnley town centre, funded by the Government’s Levelling Up programme.

The overall package includes three projects:

Expansion of the Canalside University Campus

An upgrade to Manchester Road Railway Station

Town 2 Turf

All three schemes will be connected by off-road, canal-side cycling provision.

Speaking last February, Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham said: “Improving the look and feel of Harry Potts Way is just the latest regeneration work taking place within our area. And something we should be excited to see completed.

“Secured though the Government’s Levelling Up Fund it will see improvements going right the way down Yorkshire Street, benefitting businesses and the pubs we have towards the culvert.

“I know some are unsure if this is worth the expense, but for me it’s about showing the thousands of people who visit Burnley from around the country how brilliant we are. And ultimately driving footfall into the town centre to support our businesses, where we’ll soon have the addition of the brand-new Pioneer Place complex too.”