LANCASTER residents have expressed fears that plans for a conference centre near Aldcliffe Road would create a traffic accident blackspot. British Waterways have applied to turn their offices by the side of Lancaster Canal into a conference centre, bar and restaurant but the proposals include using the historic basin bridge for traffic access. Residents claim that a busy junction onto such a narrow part of Aldcliffe Road would create a traffic blackspot and worsen the area's parking problems.

"The area is already very busy and I am worried that a new access point onto a very narrow part of Aldcliffe Road would make life very dangerous for pedestrians, particularly children. It would be an accident waiting to happen," said John Barry of the Green Party, who conducted a survey of neighbouring homes.

"We conducted a survey of 130 nearby houses. We found 78 per cent were opposed to the development. This was mainly on traffic grounds. If a way could be found to get access through the hospital on the south side of the canal then I think most people would be satisfied. It's already a congested area, there will be a loss of pedestrian access to the basin bridge and residents are worried that conference delegates might use nearby streets for parking."

The snap survey revealed that most of the residents were not against the development in principle but were keen to know more details about conference centre. The planning proposal includes 69 car parking spaces and, as well as a bar and restaurant, there would be a water activities educational area.

Jon Barry added: "We believe that the bridge is an unsuitable access point for what could be well over 2,000 journeys a week. There would be a bottleneck of cars by Aldcliffe Stores which would cause pollution and road safety dangers."

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