Community leaders in Worsley are calling for action on a nightmare roundabout which is causing safety concerns and huge traffic build ups. The two roundabouts that connect to the M60 see a constant build up of traffic during rush hour periods and leads motorists to take unnecessary risks, ward councillors have said.
Councillor Robin Garrido, speaking on behalf of his fellow Worsley and Westwood Park councillors Adam Kealey and Karen Garrido, explained that traffic lights should be introduced as a short term solution. Salford City Council have said that this is currently one of the options under review.
“We have been pursuing this for a number of years both through the City Mayor and Highways England but I am afraid they do not seem to understand the urgency of the situation,” Coun Garrido said.
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“The roundabouts at the Court House and Church Brow were both remodelled as part of the so called improvements to deal with traffic to the RHS but these changes have caused complete chaos with traffic from Leigh Road, Walkden Road, Worsley Road and Barton Road with cars approaching at speed and then merging into one lane at the Court House to access the Southbound slip Road onto the M60.
“This causes a complete bottleneck and makes it almost impossible for traffic from Barton Road/Worsley Road and Worsley Road to access the roundabout. This has now become a major safety concern both for local motorists and pedestrians and this was frequently and urgently raised with us during this year's recent local elections by residents.
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“We are calling for urgent action to be taken, perhaps initially a trial using temporary traffic lights to control the flow of traffic.
“It has become even more dangerous for older people and school children to cross these junctions to get to the nearby St Marks Primary School. This is also adding to the already high levels of pollution from the motorway that this area has to suffer from, causing health problems such as asthma.
“We must not wait until an accident happens before action is taken. To this end we are intending to set up a petition to present to the City Mayor and Highways England in the hope that they will eventually sit up and take notice.”
The suggestion by the Conservative leader and his colleagues is for a longer term remedy which may mean relocating the southbound slip road onto the M60 to a new slip from the East Lancashire Road. This is estimated to be a costly scheme but they argue that other major schemes are planned elsewhere in the country.
Councillor Mike McCusker, Lead Member for Planning, Transport and Sustainable Development, said: “We keep our highway network under constant review for both capacity and safety. We are currently reviewing options for Worsley roundabout including a trial of part-time temporary traffic signals, the impacts of which are currently being evaluated.
"The motorway network in this area is particularly congested impacting on travel on our local roads and we are aware that National Highways are carrying out studies considering future improvements to the motorway network in the region."
