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Businesses call for action at lorry-crush junction
Reporter: KAREN DOHERTY
Date online: 02 September 2010
BUSINESSES claim that Oldham Council has ignored their safety fears about a busy junction where a toddler was crushed by a lorry.
And they say that the problem has got worse since the new Tesco Extra superstore — the North-West’s largest — opened in Huddersfield Road last year.
Two-year-old Thomas Wilshaw remains in a critical condition after suffering head injuries in Friday’s accident close to the junction of Ripponden Road. The cause is being investigated.
It follows an incident in 2006 when a 14-month-old boy in a buggy was hit by a car. He miraculously escaped without any broken bones.
John Michael, who owns a hair salon at the junction, said that drivers regularly speed and go through the red lights at the pedestrian crossing there.
He is calling for speed and traffic light cameras, as well as CCTV to capture any accidents, and added: “It will act as a deterrent.
“I am not saying it is going to stop the accidents completely, but it might save somebody’s life.
“I have lived here for 20 years and I have seen umpteen accidents. When another baby was hit we asked Oldham Council to do something about this dangerous junction.
“It is the way the road has been set up, but it has got considerably worse since the new Tesco store opened.
“We have got the same traffic lights, we have got no safety measurers and we have got double the flow of traffic.”
Businesses say they also told council officers about their concerns when Tesco was being planned.
Another trader, who did not want to be named, is worried that drivers coming form Oldham who miss the Tesco opening can only turn right at Holt Street.
They have to cross three lanes of traffic, with no filter, and she added: “We have voiced our concerns over and over again. They just do not take any notice.”
Councillor John McCann, cabinet member for environment and regeneration, said his thoughts were with Thomas Wilshaw and his family.
He added: “An investigation is being conducted into what happened and it would be inappropriate for me to speculate on the circumstances.
“The safety of pedestrians and motorists is always our top priority, and this particular junction does not appear to be an accident hotspot. Of 11 recorded incidents there over the past three years, only one has involved a pedestrian.
“If it does transpire that the road junction and layout in any way contributed to this accident then our officers will, of course, re-examine the layout and consult further, if appropriate.”
Comments
the problem is bus lanes and just one lane for traffic not enough turn right places and another entrance to tescos would help as all cars go in one way the second exit has helped a lot
I hate bus lanes and stupid measures to calm down traffic. Now due to these types of things a serious accident has occured. Get rid of the bus lane and we have another highway lane. Maybe then the traffic will run smoother
Suggest some of the Councillors actually come and watch the horrendous traffic conditions at Hill Stores. Wonder what will happen when the two secondary schools combine and open on Huddersfield Road - predict even more chaos.
two busy major roads from yorkshire meet at this junction and then have to be forced into one lane!
who's stupid idea was this?
the stupid planners who planned all of Oldham's roads. You just have to go further down Huddersfield Road to the junction at Cross Street, no filters going to Shaw, no filters coming across from Glodwick and up Huddersfield Road. It's a death trap all of that road for pedestrians and drivers.
I worked in a shop on the corner where this accident happened for many years. There has always been accidents on this stretch of the crossing. The main problem is when people cross at the crossing and are at the central reservation they get confused. This is because often traffic in the lane waiting to turn right into Derker Street and Ripponden Road is stopped because of on-coming traffic. This then makes people think the lights are on red and they step out to cross the road and into danger.
why do people become so upset about bus lanes? they are there for a reason - so that the buses can run on time. they never did when they were caught up in the traffic that used to clog TWO lanes. bus users have to stick to a set timetable to get to work etc on time - car users can set off a few minutes earlier if need be. stop being so selfish.
ok, heres my suggestions to improve this road.
remove all bus lanes, reinstate the bus laybys that used to be along this road. traffic coming from oldham to ripponden road junction should have the left lane to turn left and the right lane to go straight on. then this single lane of traffic will prevent two lanes merging leaving space for a right turn bay to go into holt st. this extra space gained can also make the middle crossing island bigger too.
Take out the bus lanes. Put in a yellow box junction. Add CCTV cameras to the traffic lights and prosecute anyone speeding, sitting in the box when they have no exit, jumping a red light and the totally loonies who do a U turn from east bound to westbound at the lights, when it is forbidden and there isn.t enough room anyway.
gawd 'elp us when the Academy opns at watrehead, but the council won't listen to concerns about that either!
chrisdongray- totally agree re: Shaw Rd/ Cross St junction.
to fair play please, the reason people become upset about bus lanes is that they are never ever designed properly. in most cases they actually reduce the capacity of the road in half. these are usually roads that flowed perfectly well before and the bus services ran just as well.
huddersfield road here and manchester road are just two examples of this.
the only buslane i've seen that was sensibly thought out is in royton.
if they were designed properly people might not mind them as much.
“The safety of pedestrians and motorists is always our top priority, and this particular junction does not appear to be an accident hotspot. Of 11 recorded incidents there over the past three years, only one has involved a pedestrian"
Does this statement mean that only pedestrian collisions qualify as an accident hotspot?
Totally agree with chrisdongray and morgana why oh why can't there be a filter at the turning for Shaw? It's easier to go round the roundabout at Mumps and go up Bell Street.
I am surprised there haven't been more accidents at this junction. I speak as someone who has used this junction both as a pedestrian and a car driver, many car drivers who turn right from Huddersfield Rd. ignore the fact that the lights are on red and the green man is showing and turn anyway disregarding pedestrians and on more than one occasion when I've been at the front of the queue the lights have changed to red being beeped to go through. When did red mean go on regardless
hang on Tesco's was there before! Seems everybody has forgtton that! Yes its a bit bigger now but the previous access was via residential streets off huddersfield road making risk even greater in the past! Its also 24 hour unlike the other meaning people spread their visits out so dont all arrive at the same time!
ajh think back a little further than just before the "(poor) quality bus corridor" was built along huddersfield road. back then the traffic along there flowed smoothly. there where hardly any jams. and you could turn up practically all streets either side of the dual carriageway. now the only break in the road is tesco's.
you only have to look back to then and realise where this road started going wrong! before then you didnt even need to access tesco's via the residential streets!
Have Your Say
this is another road that has been made considerably more dangerous over the last few years. due mostly to traffic calming and bus lanes.
the lanes are poorly thought out. the bus lanes and traffic islands make traffic weave in and out causing bottlenecks and massive jams. this section of road used to be two lanes from mumps all the way up to where netto now is. back then it flowed freely and accidents rarely happened.
whats the point in the bus lanes anyway as very few services use them?
By fedupoldhamer @ 02/09/2010 12:06:24