Transport bosses will trial measures to ease congestion at some of the major traffic hotspots in Salford, after intervention by a local MP.
Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, pressed Transport for Greater Manchester for solutions after hundreds of complaints by residents in the wake of increasing delays, traffic jams, accidents and more on the Salford road network.
But at meetings with senior officials she was shocked to find they did not have a working list of difficult Salford traffic jam spots.
There may be some respite for drivers with a new plan to work on several locations at a time.
“Sadly there is no one big solution around the corner,” said Barbara.
“What we’re pushing for now is for authorities look at every small thing to see if taking a minute back here, and a minute back there, will make the difference that drivers need.
“One interesting thing we found out of this is that Transport for Greater Manchester does not have that much traffic-monitoring camera equipment in Salford.
“Now they’re going to share access to Salford City Council’s CCTV.
“They’ve also promised to put seven cameras in on Salford routes, including three on the A580 East Lancs Road, to see if that makes a difference.”
Salford has seen a spike in traffic with congestion increasing by 3.6% in the year to December 2015.
Eccles traffic at standstill: Gridlock again towards M60
The MP called on officials from Salford City Council, TfGM, Highways England and Urban Vision to take urgent action to alleviate the regular traffic chaos.
96% surveyed in Salford say journey times increased
After recent meetings with TfGM, and a second City Council Traffic Summit, officials are now working on a trial of short to medium-term measures.
There’ll be timing changes at the A580/Worsley Road junction, adjustments to the Worsley Brow roundabout at J13 for the M60, remarking the M602 and Eccles Old Road, adding a new right-turn filter where Barton Road meets Peel Green Road, upgrading traffic signals at the junction of Wellington Road and Albert Street, and a review has been promised of the junction at Trinity Way and Blackfriars Road.
Parking enforcement will also be ramped up to try to stop drivers parking on double yellow lines and blocking key routes by effectively bringing them down to one lane.
21 congestion hotspots are now under active review.
Ms Keeley said she was “delighted” with the planned reviews but said she would keep an extremely close eye on the results.
“Action to ease the intolerable levels of traffic congestion is long overdue,” she told SalfordOnline.com.
“Traffic congestion across Salford is making people’s lives a misery, and without immediate action these problems will only get worse.
“There are concerns not just about the long delays people have when travelling to work but also reports from parents struggling to drop-off and collect children from school, missed hospital appointments, businesses unable to open on time in the morning and employees fearing they will lose their jobs as a result of the delays due to traffic congestion.
“I felt it was important that transport officials heard these stories and understood the impact the congestion was having on the lives of local people.
“I hope that these short to medium-term measures being examined will be able to ease the traffic congestion in the coming months.”
Main image: RLS Photography
