Our road will not become an overflow

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!

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 which residents often walk to and from on the road into 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 cannot 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. Rotherham Council were going to monitor the amount of traffic, but because there have been no major accidents yet we are still waiting.

Now Rotherham Council are considering the re-opening of the School Lane junction, which will allow a great deal of extra traffic (and HGVs?) to come up Westfield Road from the Barbot Hall industrial estate trying to avoid the queues in Parkgate. This will only add to the safety problems for all Westfield Road/ Church Street residents. We are always told when asking 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 crossroads in the centre of Parkgate? Remove a monument and the 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 would greatly remove the bottle neck 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