To consider the following petition requiring debate:

“The Council is requested to give consideration to a crossing on Barrington Road, Altrincham.

The section where Sandiway Road / Gaskell Road intersect Barrington Road is used by many as a daily crossing point and is extremely dangerous. Traffic flow is often heavy in both directions, especially at peak travel times. Often pedestrians are forced to cross and wait in the middle of the road before a vehicle will stop to allow safe crossing. Many school children must cross this busy road each day to get to some of the local primary and secondary schools and increasingly have to wait longer to cross. There is concern that a serious accident could occur if a safe crossing is not made available.

Currently, there is only one crossing point on Barrington Road (at the junction with the A560, opposite Altrincham Methodist Church) which is insufficient for a road of this length, with such high volumes of traffic. This road is one of the main routes in and out of Altrincham Town Centre and people would be encouraged to walk and cycle more around this area if crossing this road was easier.

A crossing point, wherever is safest, around the aforementioned junction would also help cars and cyclists to safely pull out of Gaskell Road and Sandiway Road onto Barrington Road. On the Bee Network map, Barrington Road is already marked as a red ‘severance line’, cutting across significant ‘desire lines’ between local communities, parks, businesses and schools at the junction with the above two roads. The road here is also very wide, long and straight so traffic often appears to travel well in excess of the speed limit. Also, the large radius of the junctions with Gaskell Road and Sandiway Road enables cars to turn without needing to slow down significantly, while leaving pedestrians with a very wide expanse of road to cross before reaching safety.

There is a great deal of support for the proposal and it is hoped that a crossing will be considered.”

Note: In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, a petition containing more than 500 signatures will be debated by the Council. The petition organiser will be given five minutes to present the petition and then it will be discussed by the Council for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Petition organiser, Rachel Pleasant introduced the following petition containing 517 signatures, which had been presented to the Council:

“The Council is requested to give consideration to a crossing on Barrington Road, Altrincham.

The section where Sandiway Road / Gaskell Road intersect Barrington Road is used by many as a daily crossing point and is extremely dangerous. Traffic flow is often heavy in both directions, especially at peak travel times. Often pedestrians are forced to cross and wait in the middle of the road before a vehicle will stop to allow safe crossing. Many school children must cross this busy road each day to get to some of the local primary and secondary schools and increasingly have to wait longer to cross. There is concern that a serious accident could occur if a safe crossing is not made available.

Currently, there is only one crossing point on Barrington Road (at the junction with the A560, opposite Altrincham Methodist Church) which is insufficient for a road of this length, with such high volumes of traffic. This road is one of the main routes in and out of Altrincham Town Centre and people would be encouraged to walk and cycle more around this area if crossing this road was easier.

A crossing point, wherever is safest, around the aforementioned junction would also help cars and cyclists to safely pull out of Gaskell Road and Sandiway Road onto Barrington Road. On the Bee Network map, Barrington Road is already marked as a red ‘severance line’, cutting across significant ‘desire lines’ between local communities, parks, businesses and schools at the junction with the above two roads. The road here is also very wide, long and straight so traffic often appears to travel well in excess of the speed limit. Also, the large radius of the junctions with Gaskell Road and Sandiway Road enables cars to turn without needing to slow down significantly, while leaving pedestrians with a very wide expanse of road to cross before reaching safety.

There is a great deal of support for the proposal and it is hoped that a crossing will be considered.”

Addressing the Council, the lead petitioner drew attention to a fatal incident the previous Sunday which had occurred at the Barrington Road / Manchester Road Junction to emphasise the danger to pedestrians. In addition, with parked cars adding to poor visibility and vehicles that appeared to travel at speeds in excess of the 30 mph limit, the road was imitating to cross, particularly for young children. Aware that the area was being investigated in terms of the Bee Network, the petitioner expressed concern that the funding for the road/junction was not definite or that work may not happen for some years to come.

Councillors Adshead, Evans, Newgrosh and Welton debated the petition on behalf of the political parties and made the following points:

Councillor Adshead: The Council needs to await Transport for Greater Manchester’s (TfGM’s) assessment of the scheme. Also, further to the Corporate Director’s response sent to the lead petitioner, Councillor Adshead, as relevant Executive Member, would ensure that regular updates on progress with the process were provided to the petitioner.

Councillor Evans: Mindful of the number of amenities on Barrington Road, indicated support for a crossing.

Councillor Newgrosh: Aware of the problem, supported the request for a safe crossing.

Councillor Welton: Appreciated that the community was surrounded by busy roads and appealed for a rebalance of priorities away from motorists driving through a community towards the quality of life for those residents that live there. Advocated a solution that enhances walking and cycling as a means of improving public health and called for a review of the way the highways capital expenditure repairs programme was formulated so not to miss opportunities for walking and cycling through remodelling. 

Following the debate, Councillor Andrew Western, the Leader of the Council summarised what action the Council planned to take.

The Leader advised that, whilst in principle, nobody was opposed to the petition request, there was a process that needed to be followed and that if the actions articulated in the debate were to be undertaken it would take a considerable amount of time, possibly several years. The Leader, therefore, confirmed that the Council would wait for TfGM to report the findings of its safety-based audit of the location, the methodology of which across Greater Manchester was on the basis of assessed need. Referring to the issue of speeding motorists on Barrington Road, Councillor Andrew Western also advised that he would raise that particular matter with the local police.

The Leader of the Council was appreciative of the work undertaken to gather signatures but indicated that the audit undertaken would be independent of that exercise. The Council would urge TfGM to complete its investigations as quickly as possible and as the Executive Member had stated, would keep the lead petitioner updated throughout the process.