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WITNESSED several near misses ... Ian Duckworth.
WITNESSED several near misses ... Ian Duckworth.
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Junction lights are ‘danger’ for drivers

Helen Johnson
20/ 9/2008

BADLY-positioned traffic lights at the new Oldham Road-Kingsway junction are an accident waiting to happen, according to residents and business owners.

Oldham-bound drivers travelling from Rochdale are governed by a set of traffic lights in Oldham Road, which are parallel to the Lowerplace Working Men’s club.

However, another set of lights positioned on a traffic island, which control traffic coming from Castleton, are pointing in the direction of the stationary traffic waiting in Oldham Road and are misleading drivers.

These lights turn green before the set in Oldham Road change, but drivers are entering the junction from Oldham Road while their lights are still red.

Ex-councillor Ian Duckworth says he has witnessed several near misses and has almost been involved in collisions himself because of the confusion.

Mr Duckworth said: "Drivers are setting off when the lights in front of them go green, but they are not for them. They are for drivers coming from the right. In my view, it will lead to a serious accident. If you are driving a car it’s very hard to see the correct set of lights because of their position. The lights in Oldham Road are more or less at the side of drivers when they pull up to the white line and they just aren’t seeing them."

Business owners in the area have expressed similar sentiments.

Mohammed Salim, owner of MS Microwave Services Ltd, in Oldham Road, said: "I’ve been confused by the lights a few times."

Craig Jones and Debra Finnigan, owners of Abracadabra at Lowerplace, say they have experienced numerous problems with the roundabout.

Ms Finnigan said: "We get taxis here from Middleton, so the drivers aren’t familiar with the junction and we have had a couple of near misses because of it. It’s very, very confusing.

"I am 100 per cent certain it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious accident."

Mr Jones said: "The whole thing has been nothing but a nightmare. All you can hear during the day now is cars beeping at each other.

"The speed at which cars fly round here is ridiculous."

Sue Cottons, owner of April Cottons florist, which is just after the junction in Oldham Road, said: "The new junction at Sudden works quite well, but this one is just a nightmare.

"A lot of drivers don’t see it when the pedestrian crossing is on red just as they come off the roundabout. There was an incident just this week when a lorry with a skip on the back nearly pushed a car into the railings. The bus stop being so close to the junction causes a lot of problems, too."

Oldham Road resident Nicole Healey said: "I’ve noticed the light causing the confusion has a grill over it, but the grill is pointing in the direction of Oldham Road.

"As a passenger, I have noticed that people coming from Rochdale think it’s for them. It’s really dangerous."

A spokesman for the Impact Partnership’s Highways department said: "We did a safety audit at the new junction after it became operational and measures were taken to ensure that the lights were angled correctly to avoid confusion. However, at times the angle of traffic lights needs to be adjusted following, for instance, high winds or vandals affecting their positioning. We will send someone out and make any necessary alterations."


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Most recent 2 of 2 user comments

   Dont foreget the mess at the top of John street,Whitworth road junction. Highway planners should be held to account for the disgraceful disregard of tax payers money.A child could have designed better.
LKB, hurstead
22/09/2008 at 14:05
   My concern is more with the road markings. Any road that has two lanes into one becomes a race track. Kingsways to Queensway is a classic. Coming from Queensway across to Kingsway you have very poor road markings. It should be right lane for Oldham, left Lane for Tod and Rochdale. Rub out the Tod on the right lane and get rid of the lane which is in the middle of the roundabout part as Oldham and Tod uses use it at the moment causing havoc. Most people use the wrong lane because going on to Queensway its back down to one lane. Go back to your school days and ask yourself why you were told to walk in single file!!!
wickedchop, littleborough
22/09/2008 at 09:49
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