Irlam residents have expressed their fury after issues with a set of temporary traffic lights have allegedly left some commuters waiting up to two hours to travel less than a mile.
The anger comes after a set of temporary traffic lights were installed on Liverpool Road yesterday (Monday 31 July) as part of week-long works on a gas leak in the area by Cadent.
The lights were scheduled to run during off peak hours from 9:30 – 15:30 between The Club House and Makro Manchester, before being replaced by metal plates and lowered speed limits during non-working hours.
Since being installed yesterday, residents have shared their fury online, claiming that the lights have been turned on out of hours, there are no bus services in the area, and that some commuters have been left waiting up to two-hours to travel less than a mile in “horrendous” traffic, according to local councillors.
Councillor for Irlam and Cadishead, Lewis Nelson, said: “I think it’s extremely disappointing and frustrating for residents in Irlam and Cadishead, me included…I think it’s been really poorly handled and I think stories of people being stuck across the city is just totally not acceptable.”
In a letter to Salford City Council Highways department, Councillor Lewis Nelson wrote: “I am seriously concerned about Cadent’s flagrant disregard for the residents of Irlam and Cadishead, they have proven their ineptitude time and time again causing chaos for Irlam and Cadishead.
“I have been contacted by residents who are stuck in Eccles with young children, with no options to get home… I’m being contacted by others who have … miss[ed] hospital appointments.”
In a response to Cllr Nelson, the department apologised for the issues on behalf of Cadent Gas, claiming the road plates set to be installed outside of the temporary lights run time were not performing to “expectation”.
The response said that the only option were to source and replace the plates, leave the lights own full time, or fill the holes and open the road to traffic. It read: “I apologise that there is a significant amount of congestion and we are working closely with Cadent Gas and TfGM to minimise the disruption… unfortunately the road plate issue was unforeseen by Cadent.”
A statement from Cadent Gas explained: “Unfortunately, late last night (31 July) we became concerned about the safety of the temporary traffic management system we had on the A57, Irlam.
“As originally planned, we put down road plates, to allow traffic to drive over our work area during peak hours, but this relied on motorists adhering to a clearly signed reduction in speed limit (from 50mph to 30mph).
“Our team observed many vehicles persisting with the 50mph, such that a very serious accident was only a matter of time. We therefore took the decision to reintroduce the traffic lights, to manage vehicle flow around our work area and keep everyone safe.
“We are investigating alternative options that might see us able to reintroduce off-peak only working and two-way access for road users during peak hours, which we may be able to introduce later today or early tomorrow.
“We mustered extra resources to site this morning and our engineers will continue the work under traffic lights for now. We are hopeful this gas leak repair will be complete in no more than two more days.
“We know this adds to traffic congestion considerably but we cannot risk anyone’s safety and we must now see this essential gas leak repair through to a conclusion.”
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