Think again about road situation

I had my front wall damaged twice and then completely demolished during the winter months from vehicles speeding down here taking a short cut and finding themselves on an untreated road! Regularly the queue for exiting on to Rawmarsh Hill would start halfway up Westfield Road and due to the very tight turn at the exit on to Rawmarsh Hill it only takes one lorry or a poorly positioned waiting car to completely block the entrance on to Westfield Road and Church Street.

Westfield Road is a very pleasant residential side road, quite narrow and steep in places with tight corners and a blind z bend, only one side has a full footpath and there is a care home from which residents often walk to and from on the road towards the oncoming traffic! We already see many vehicles speeding down here using it as a “rat run” whenever Rawmarsh Hill A633 is busy. HGV lorries that are totally unsuitable for this road regularly get stuck when they can not get through past residents parked cars, we have asked for SLOW signs to be painted on the road near to the blind corners and for traffic calming giving priority to vehicles coming up,and a weight limit to restrict large HGVs. Rotherham council were going to monitor the amount of traffic, but because of ‘council cut backs’ and the fact that there have been no major accidents, (yet?) we are still waiting.

Now Rotherham Council are considering the re-opening of the School lane junction. This will allow a great deal of extra traffic, all day and every day (and HGVs?) to come up Westfield Road from the Barbot Hall industrial estate trying to avoid the queues in Parkgate. This will only create more safety and noise problems for all Westfield Road/ Church Street residents. We are always told when we ask for winter gritting that Westfield Road is “only a residential side road” so it should not even be considered as an overflow for the A633!

Why do they not re-open the cross roads in the centre of Parkgate? Remove a monument and a few bushes and a good wide road is all still there, At the moment everything has to go to the main roundabout at Barbot Hall but by re-opening the main cross roads in Parkgate this would instantly remove all traffic wishing to go to and from Asda and the Mushroom roundabout. And what about the second entrance to Parkgate shopping near the Station pub that has been promised for many years? All these actions would greatly help to remove the bottle neck that has been created in Parkgate.

Rotherham Council, please think what you are doing. Westfield Road residents will NOT let you use our road as an overflow for the A633!

P Thwaites, Westfield Road, Parkgate