Tackling Littleborough’s casualty hotspot

The centre of Littleborough is ranked twelfth out of the top 38 sites in Greater Manchester for accidents.

Collision records show over a five year period from January 2007 to December 2011, there have been ten recorded personal injury accidents, six of these involved elderly pedestrians with three being of a serious nature.

There are two identified ‘at risk’ locations, the zebra crossing on the A58 located 25 metres west of the junction with Hare Hill Road and the junction of Victoria Street and Hare Hill Road.

The council proposes to improve the safety of these roads and the surrounding area for motorists and pedestrians by replacing the current zebra crossing on Hare Hill Road with a puffin crossing and applying anti-skid surfacing to crossing approaches.

Two new speed humps on Hare Hill Road will be introduced and the speed limit reduced to 20mph on Hare Hill Road from Church Street to Sale Street and linking with the existing school zone on Victoria Street.

A dedicated parking space for blue badge holders on Victoria Street outside the pharmacy will also be introduced.

The scheme is expected to significantly improve the safety of the two casualty hotspots as well as the wider area. Replacing the zebra crossing with a puffin crossing will give pedestrians more time to cross but will also improve network efficiency by cancelling unwanted pedestrian demands, so traffic is not stopped unnecessarily.

Reduced speed limits with traffic calming features have a proven track record in not only reducing accident numbers but also the severity of accidents if they do occur. Research has shown that the overall collision frequency in traffic calmed areas have shown a decrease of 60 per cent.

The introduction of speed humps on Hare Hill Road will serve to slow motorists down before heading into the shopping area, creating a ‘gateway’ feature highlighting the start of the new ‘20mph zone’. And the raised junction proposed at Hare Hill Road and Victoria Street is especially helpful for the elderly, people with disabilities, wheelchair users and people pushing prams to safely cross the road.

Residents are being consulted on their views about the forthcoming proposed works. People are invited to attend a drop-in session on 4 June 2013, 3pm-7pm at Littleborough Coach House. Attendees will be able to view the proposals in more detail and discuss them further with one of the council’s engineers.

Councillor Jacqui Beswick, cabinet member for place and regulation (including highways), said: “Making our roads safer is a key priority for us. Where we identify casualty hotspots our highways service must take action to reduce risks to motorists and pedestrians. The plans proposed have my full support and I hope residents will agree that the traffic calming measures planned are crucial to making our village safer for all who use the highway.

“If you have any comments or want more information, please do come to our drop-in and speak to our engineers. This is your village, so your views are important.”

The plans can also be viewed at www.rochdale.gov.uk/highways