New Pedestrian Crossings Installed Across Burnage

Pedestrian crossings at Grangethorpe Drive, Burnage Lane and Crossley Road are in their first week of operation.

The pedestrian crossings were installed as part of the Burnage and Levenshulme Active Neighbourhood plan, which was first consulted on back in 2020. This specific crossing were part of the Phase 2 work consulted on back in 2021.

The crossings were briefly out of order on Monday 29 April, however they have soon been fixed, along with the installation of a turf to add more greenspace to the area.

The new installations include a pedestrian puffin crossing with signal lights on the same side of the road as the user, and a sensor which detects pedestrians waiting.

Dave Page, an admin of the Burnage and Levenshulme community group, said: ‘It’s a busy junction near a load of schools and there was no way for kids to safely cross north-south’

‘A lot of people live south of the schools off Burnage Lane, so this is a big step for them.’

The double lane on the left side of Crossley Road onto Burnage Lane (one lane for straight ahead and turning left, the other for those turning right) has now become one lane

This new addition has not been entirely positive however, as Kay Tee said ‘This junction is atrocious and the council were not truthful about its construction either.’

Kay continued to say ‘the reduction in road area is a terrible idea and a solution to a problem that never existed’

Dave Page responded to the negative feedback, saying ‘as a driver, pedestrian and cyclist I’m generally in favour. Most of the congestion seems to be caused by parents driving their kids to school, so safer walking routes can potentially make a big difference.’

A large part of the installations negative feedback is due to a lack of data and evidence to support a reduction in road area, however a report by Fair Transition Unit offers a wider understanding about why transport isn’t working.

As part of the Levenshulme and Burnage Active Neighbourhood Scheme, work will also include: tactile paving on all crossing points, resurfacing road and footways around the junction, building out kerbs to make the roads easier to cross at the junction, a rain garden on the Northwest side of the junction outside 86 Burnage Lane and a raised plateau crossing point on Alexandria Drive