CAMPAIGNERS have warned the controversial Colne by-pass could increase traffic in some parts of the town centre.

Friends of the Earth and other groups opposed to the proposed by-pass, which will take traffic off North Valley Road, Colne and away from villages along the A56, say the road will simply move the gridlock problem from one area to another.

Rather than easing the traffic nightmare in Colne, the new road will add to it, campaigners argued. They said Lancashire County Council traffic forecasts backed them up.

But county highways officials accused the campaigners of being 'extremely selective' in their use of the figures.

Highways bosses said campaigners' claims that traffic along Craddock Road, in the town centre, would double was due to proposals to pedestrianise at least part of Market Street, the main road through the centre of town, and turn Craddock Road from one-way to two-way traffic. The increase in traffic would happen whether or not the by-pass went ahead. Campaigners say that while some areas will benefit from a cut in traffic, other roads are forecast to get much worse if the by-pass is built.

They claimed official forecast figures showed residents in Skipton Road, Colne, could see rush-hour traffic rise by 61 per cent to 900 vehicles an hour. The figures show traffic along North Valley Road and Keighley Road would fall by about a third.

"We have been waiting for this information for months," said Donald Mitchell, of the Colne Foulridge Environmental Protection Group, one of the organisations opposing the by-pass.

"Anyone who assumes that the new road will take traffic away from their street should take a very careful look at the supporting technical information before deciding. The results might not be what they expect at all."

But a county council spokesman said: "With the by-pass over the course of the day all major roads in Colne would experience a reduction in traffic, with the exception of Byron Road which would have an increase of about eight per cent."

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