‘I nearly got run over!’ Salford Quays campaigner succeeds in getting pedestrian walkways around busy roadworks site
- Roadworks on Trafford Road near Salford Quays meant pedestrian access to pavements was blocked
- Pedestrians were left walking next to traffic on busy A-road
- Safer barriers and signage now in place thanks to campaiger, who says next step is to ensure disabled accessibility
A resident has successfully campaigned for the introduction of pedestrian walkways after roadworks blocked use of pavements in Salford Quays.
The works, which have been ongoing for almost a year after Salford council set aside £1.35m for the project, aim to reduce traffic congestion and provide better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.
Work has also been taking place on the Metrolink line, with partial closure of the Eccles line causing an influx of traffic jams around the area.
With work undergoing on the pavement, residents were left with little choice but to walk alongside traffic without proper safety barriers and signage.
Alex Warren, who stood for election last year on a mandate to make the area safer and cleaner for residents, approached the roadworks team and asked for safer measures after a personal experience.
“Yeah I nearly got run over!” he told Northern Quota.
“The walkway next to the roadworks kind of just turned into the road and after my experience I saw a mum with two kids and a pram trying to walk down this road with cars driving right past.
“There was no provision and no safe walkway and I thought it just wasn’t good enough, so I got in touch with the company that manages the road.
“I spoke to various people, got passed from pillar to post, spoke to the operations manager and eventually spoke to the public relations person who met me on the site.
“We met on the road and I showed her and took pictures saying what the problem was and asking to get it fixed and after a good two to three weeks I think, we got it sorted.”
Residents have welcomed the safer walkways, with one commenting: “The signs you can see in advance work much better.”
They told NQ: “Before it was awful as you couldn’t see where you were supposed to walk, whoever was in charge of signposting hadn’t implemented it properly.”
Another said: “It was terrible trying to walk down there before.
“It was like dicing with death to get from one end to the other, so this new walkway has made a big difference to us.”
Alex’s next goal as the Quays campaigner is to get proper disabled access installed around the walkways, as this continues to be an issue for people.
“My grandad came to the United game a couple of weeks back and he’s in a wheelchair, so we had to carry him about 100 metres because we couldn’t get him around that area” he said.
“That’s something else I’ve been pulling them up on as it’s not inclusive.”
Roadworks management team John Sisk and Son told the Northern Quota: “We worked with Alex to try and help improve the area, which Sisk try to do on all our projects.
“We did a site walk with Alex and talked him through the project and discussed how we could help him help the community.”
Transport for Greater Manchester have announced that 24-hour lane closures have commenced on Trafford Road and that work will be taking place at the junction of Trafford Road and Salford Quays until mid-November.