Traffic survey carried out on Oldham Road to ‘help shape travel …
Date published: 10 August 2023
Photo: Google, DigitalGlobe
Oldham Road in Balderstone
A traffic survey has been carried out on Oldham Road, Rochdale, to help shape improvements to local bus routes.
Traffic flow cameras were installed at several points along the route, and a leaflet for a transport survey given out on 6 July.
The survey comes as Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and its partners have been looking to improve bus journeys connecting Rochdale, Royton, Oldham and Ashton town centres.
It says the project will improve the 409 bus route, mainly covering the A671 and A627 routes, and feedback “will also help with potential plans for new and improved routes for walking, cycling and wheeling.”
The survey did not contain any proposals and instead sought views from people who use the route.
The leaflet given out on 6 July
However, the survey has sparked concerns that a cycle lane like the one being installed in Castleton could be in the pipeline, with one worried business owner, who did not want to be named, saying the transport group “hadn’t communicated with local businesses.”
The business owner wrote to TfGM and received a reply advising the cameras and survey “will help shape highways, bus and active travel improvements in the area.”
TfGM also apologised “our earlier engagement was not communicated” to the business owner.
The business owner added: “They’ve not denied or admitting doing to Oldham Road what they have done to Manchester Road, I did ask. I wonder how surveys shaped Castleton, as from what I’ve heard the locals didn’t want the cycle lane, but got it anyway.
“Some of us do need vehicles to operate our businesses. The idiots who park in the bus lanes will still do so, the idiot drivers will still exist, but there won’t be any small businesses.
“These ‘early stages’ with no information is causing real unease.”
One of the traffic data cameras overlooking the junction of Queensway, Oldham Road, Kingsway in Rochdale
TfGM says a previous survey was carried out in March and April 2023 to give local people the chance to help shape the plans, and more information will be available “very soon.”
A TfGM spokesperson said: “As part of delivering the Bee Network, Greater Manchester’s integrated transport system joining together buses, trams, active travel and rail, work has been ongoing to see how improvements can be made across all modes of transport to improve the quality of these journeys across the region.
“TfGM and partners have been looking at ways to make improvements to bus journeys connecting Rochdale, Royton, Oldham and Ashton town centres. A survey was launched earlier this year, and the feedback gathered will help shape highways, bus and active travel improvements in the area.
“Traffic data cameras have also been installed at key locations on the road network to monitor traffic flow. This data will also help support the development of proposals to deliver these improvements.”