The neighbourhood where school traffic is 'horrendous'... but plans to combat it were scrapped
02.03.2023 - 10:49
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
As the end of the school day arrives for one primary in Oldham, cars are already queueing nose to tail on the road outside. “It’s horrendous,” one resident says.
This is Holly Grove in Chadderton North, where Active Neighbourhood plans aimed at cutting traffic and rat-running were scrapped by the council after an outcry.
Leaders had proposed installing planters and bollards, as well as new bus gates to restrict vehicles which they said were using streets like Holly Grove as a cut-through.
The authority stated it had also been contacted by people with concerns about traffic and congestion in the Chadderton North and Westwood area which contains several schools, including Burnley Brown and Bare Trees Primary Schools. It said people had raised concerns of ‘inconsiderate driving and parking’ around the schools.
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But in January the town hall rolled back on the scheme, after many of the 944 people who responded to its consultation reacted negatively to the proposals. Council leader Amanda Chadderton said they had ‘listened’ to residents and wouldn’t be progressing with ‘any part of the plans’.
But she added it would leave some people ‘disappointed’, including those who had contacted the council ‘concerned about increased traffic levels and road safety issues’.
Outside Bare Trees Primary School on a cold weekday afternoon, the congestion is obvious. Traffic queues from Eustace Street, down Holly Grove and spills into Burnley Street and Cypress Avenue.
Locals saythe Active Neighbourhood scheme would have helped deal with the rush of traffic at pick-up and drop-off times.
“It’s always bad,” Andrew, who works in the area, says.