Residents urged to complete highways survey

Local people are being asked for their views on Lancashire’s highways and transport services – from the condition of roads and footpaths to the quality of cycling facilities.

Their answers will be compared with the views of other members of the public across England and Scotland, thanks to the National Highways and Transport Public Satisfaction survey.

Lancashire County Council is one of 111 local authorities to sign up to a standardised survey that will ask members of the public exactly the same questions, whether they live in Lancashire, Leeds or Luton.

The survey, which is being run for the 14th year, is the largest collaboration between local authorities offering the opportunity to compare results, share in best practice and identify further opportunities to work together in the future.

The questionnaire will be sent to a minimum random sample of at least 3,300 of Lancashire residents this month, followed by a reminder, with local and national results to be published in late October 2021. Since the survey is based on a sample, residents that receive a copy are being urged to take part.

Residents that receive the questionnaire can complete the survey online if they prefer, a short URL link will be printed on the front of the questionnaire and they will be required to enter a code before completing the questionnaire.

Cllr Charlie Edwards, cabinet member for highways and transport at Lancashire County Council said: ‘The results will enable us to find out what people in Lancashire think about these important services and assess how we are performing. It gives the public an opportunity to say which services they think the county council should prioritise, and improve.

‘We are always looking for ways to improve our service and last year we made marked improvements to reduce the impact of our work on the environment.

‘This includes installing 20,800 new Salix LED lanterns on streetlights to reduce our energy consumption by £1m a year. We also recycled 19,000 tonnes of waste asphalt while resurfacing Lancashire’s roads and saved 1,139 tonnes of CO2 by introducing deep in situ recycling process and shifting to warm mix asphalt.

‘Despite this progress, we are keen to deliver an even better service and so we are urging those who are selected to take part in the survey to complete it.

‘The results will enable the authorities involved to identify areas of best practice and spot national, regional and local trends.

‘This is not about producing a league table to champion one geographical area over another, it is about understanding customer views better and using the feedback from the survey to improve our service to Lancashire residents.’

Photo Credit – Florian Schmetz