Rat run woe

IF you have attempted to drive along Broom Avenue since October 29, you may have been surprised to find that it is no longer a ‘through’ road, as its junction with Wickersley Road has been closed. This is as a result of the residents of Broom Avenue submit

After ‘consultation’ with residents of nearby affected roads, where the majority were not in favour of the closure, it has been closed, thus making Broom Avenue effectively a cul-de-sac. This obviously has had a detrimental effect on surrounding roads, leading to increased traffic, as vehicles that would normally use Broom Avenue have diverted on to alternative routes.

Despite being informed by Cllr Pickering at the councillors’surgery I attended in May, that the intention of the proposed changes was to encourage drivers to use the main arterial roads rather than side roads, the road the closure has had the most adverse effect on is the side road I live on, Ledsham Road, which has now become a ‘rat run’ between Wickersley Road/Broom Lane and beyond.

RMBC, recognising this, have constructed entry treatments (their words) which are ludicrously supposed to fool people into believing Ledsham Road to be an access road, not a through road. To divert traffic from a long, wide, open, flat road (Broom Avenue) on to a short, narrow hill, with a blind bend (Ledsham Road) is unjust. One road should not be closed at the expense of other roads in the area.

As at the moment Broom Avenue is supposedly only temporarily closed and is under review in three months time, so please, if you oppose the closure, contact Gerald Smith, cabinet member, or Simon Quarta, planning and regeneration service, RMBC.

Lynne Tolley, Ledsham Road, Rotherham