Rooley Lane: Calls for council to fix barriers urgently

Rooley Lane is part of the outer ring road and one of the busiest multi-lane carriageways in the city, with its links to the M606 and Wakefield Road. Earlier this month, a pedestrian, pensioner Rodney Gledhill from Holme Wood, died after a collision involving a HGV at the junction of Rooley Lane and Bowling Hall Road. A man crossing Rooley Lane through the broken barriers near Greggs (Image: T&A) The circumstances leading to the tragedy are still under investigation, but the incident has put the spotlight on Rooley Lane.

In particularly, observers have highlighted the poor state of the barriers in the central reservation, although it is not yet clear if this factor played any part in Mr Gledhill's death. When the Telegraph & Argus visited Rooley Lane this week, we saw numerous members of the public crossing the road at points where the barriers are broken rather than using formal crossing points or the subway. The lack of barriers on a section of Rooley Lane (Image: Newsquest) Bradford Council has told the T&A the barriers are "on a list for repair".

Tong Ward councillors, who all represent the Green Party, have voiced their outrage at the lack of urgency.

Lack of barriers making road 'more dangerous'

Councillor Matt Edwards feels the lack of barriers makes the road more dangerous. A pedestrian sees a gap in the traffic to cross the multi-lane road (Image: T&A) He said: "For a lot of people roads like Rooley Lane, Wakefield Road and Tong Street are their first impressions of our city, but the Labour administration has failed to prioritise getting these relatively minor repairs completed. "I have raised this repeatedly in council meetings to be told they are 'getting around to it soon'.

A man waits in the central reservation of Rooley Lane (Image: T&A) "Not only does this gives people a poor first impression of the city but also its making our roads more dangerous. "The sad news that Rodney Gledhill was killed on Rooley Lane show how dangerous some of the roads in Bradford are. There aren't actually many safe places to cross on these roads.

Speaking in a wider context about the district-wide challenge of improving road safety, Coun Edwards said: "Ultimately, we need to make sure we focus on addressing the epidemic of dangerous driving on our roads rather than focusing on pedestrians." Quite a few barriers on Rooley Lane are either broken or missing (Image: Newsquest)

'Barriers need replacing as a matter of urgency'

Councillor Celia Hickson described Rooley Lane as an "urban motorway with three lanes of fast-moving traffic in either direction". She said: "These missing barriers do tempt pedestrians to cross what is essentially an urban motorway with three lanes of fast-moving traffic in either direction.

A pedestrian crossing Rooley Lane on Thursday (Image: T&A) "Our highways are simply not designed with pedestrians in mind and with long distances between crossing points, it is understandable that people want to take the shortest route. "These barriers need replacing as a matter of urgency before there is another tragic accident on Rooley Lane.

Green Party councillors will be pressing for their replacement." Cones have been put in place in some sections where the barriers are missing (Image: Newsquest) Councillor Ursula Sutcliffe added: "Given the recent tragic events on there, you would think that a road this busy and dangerous would be an urgent job." A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "These barriers were damaged prior to the incident at the weekend and are on a list for repair."

They added: "Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the person who lost their life in this tragic incident, which is currently under investigation by the police."