‘Hang on a tick chaps’! Can we see improvements to work at the former roundabout before Tesco start trying to claim a mere gesture of a contribution of £200,000 to help flow of traffic by providing a bus lane to ease the traffic chaos it is helping to cause? Another £500,000 to help improve Yorkshire Street! Why, people can’t wait to get out of this town, its town centre is surrounded by remnants of the 1960’s with the horrid seven sisters and despite regular attempts to ‘improve the town centre’ these horrid concrete block and those at failinge and Freehold have stood like a concrete cancer as a blight on this town. When it comes to selling a stupid idea planners and the council and the likes of the council always say, “lets do this cause very little helps”!! I mean they have revealed we endured this nightmare costing millions for what, “‘The scheme saw the subway filled in, new crossing points and bus stops relocated in a bid to improve traffic flow and increase pedestrian and vehicle safety”. I am a driver but equally it is clear that filling in the subway the poor pedestrian has had to yield to the motorist by risking his or her life on a dangerous crossing that hits the unsuspecting speeding motorists entering Edinburgh way from Manchester Road. The poor pedestrian is diverted onto this dangerous crossing by being diverted; guess where, through Tesco’s car park. Trouble is, we swallow all this crap because Tesco get out their cheque book write a mere £200,000 to help cause more chaos and claim, “Well, we know we will cause utter gridlock to an already crazy junction but, hey EVERY LITTLE HELPS.” I think people of this town decided to desert this crap hole in favour of Bury, the Trafford Centre and other supermarkets long ago. As for the poor old bus passenger, well I did try doing my bit availing myself of a bus service advertised as being as regular as a bus on X-lax, into Manchester. So on I hop to find myself stopping at Castleton for ten minutes, Middleton for five minutes, Bogget Hole clough park for ten minutes and others while the bus driver reads his paper. Go see at chesham you will be hard pressed to find any of the bus stops bus free causing a danger to pedestrians and motorists because the drivers have lights a blazing blinding oncoming traffic with engine running pumping Satan’s black wind into the environment and they sit and wait, sit and wait and all because they don’t want to catch up with the bus in front or gridlock the new tiny bus interchange which is supposed to be ready for the increase in bus traffic that congestions charging will bring. Just wait and I will bet we have a line of busses from Rochdale to Manchester all stood at bus stops while driver reads the newspaper, trust me, it’s already here! So now we see Tesco contributing to a scheme that is all going to be used later to justify congestion charging.

Before you chaps start telling me every little helps, then go sort out the stuff you spent money on last year improving things that ain't working although I do accept coming from the motorway is a tad better but alas the frustration and chaos has resulted in Roche Valley way drivers and pedestrians alike put through hell. All the council did were displace the gridlock elsewhere, create a danger for pedestrians, lights out of sync and red light dodging motorists (Rochdale –Roch valley way bound) and cars using massive empty bus lanes. The council is trading with pedestrians lives and the sanity of it’s motorists for the promise of a few quid and selling us out while passing responsibility for spending money where it is not needed for the promise of what amounts to coppers. I mean, a few hundred thousand pounds for a store that will drag in hundreds of millions over it’s life represents pennies. “But hey, EVERY LITTLE HELPS” even if we are driven to utter despair by yet more road works. I think we have rather had enough now!!!