Ongoing traffic issues in Preston

One of the biggest problems faced by the residents of Preston is traffic, as we all know. Ideally a bypass would be the perfect solution, but something like that would take years to come about and a massive budget that simply isn't available. 

Physical changes in road layouts, signage and speed limits are down to local County Councils and National Highways. We - as the Police - can make recommendations and offer advice, but at the end of the day we cannot force, nor fund the changes. Furthermore, if changes are actually approved by the necessary public bodies, residents are also still required to agree to them, and the barrier “we” have faced in the past is the lack of response or approval from them - Kirk Road/Rectory Lane being a prime example some years ago, when fewer than 7% of residents even responded to approved changes, and of those some did not agree to the work. 75% of residents are required to agree to the change before it can be actioned.

While one cause of the traffic problems is the attitude of drivers, the other cannot be ignored, and that is the modern technology we have in vehicles: satellite navigation. Most drivers these days blindly follow sat navs and road signage is almost an irrelevance to them. 

I have personally contacted Google and Waze and highlighted the errors/omissions on their mapping systems which often direct traffic through roads that are not suitable or perhaps not even legal routes. However, my input is not enough due to algorithms and AI recognition. Furthermore, Waze has stated that they operate only a navigation system for cars as things stand, and they are not prepared to add things that are suitable for lorries, such as 7.5T limit signage. That said, you can alert Waze to things as you drive, using their instant reporting system. 

I intend to get in touch with Garmin and TomTom too, but many cars are fitted with in-built systems that do not recognise changes until they are improved with a new memory card or software update. 

However, you can help too. Below are the instructions for notifying Google Maps of errors, omissions and necessary changes. Other sat nav apps and systems have similar methods, and if you - as residents of the affected areas, as well as users of the roads in question report en masse - then the system will hopefully recognise a need to update and change. 

In the meantime, we will continue to enforce the road traffic law in Preston - as well as many other villages in Holderness - when time and staffing allows, and we would also encourage you to use the Humberside Police dashcam reporting system: Operations Snap -Humberside which is very efficient and highly recommended as we cannot physically be in all places at all times. 

You can report incorrect, missing, or inappropriate data in Google Maps, such as wrong addresses, missing roads, outdated information, or policy violations, directly from the app or website.

On Mobile (Android or iOS)

On a Computer

To find out more about your local policing team including who your officers are, updates on policing priorities and details of meetings and events please visit https://www.police.uk.