Howard Sykes has demanded the issue of road chaos in Oldham be addressed in response to concerns expressed by local residents. In a letter to the Chief Executive of Oldham Council he says, “The current situation with regard to traffic congestion within the Borough as result of roadwork’s is becoming a major topic of concern amongst the residents of this Borough.
“Of course I recognise that the work related to Metrolink has been a significant factor in the problems related to the town centre, but you will be well aware that we as an administration took the implications of Metrolink very seriously and were constantly seeking improved signage, better communication with the public and of course improvements in the planning of road closures.
“But we have had a number of examples recently where the level of planning and communication with the public have fallen well short of the standards we would have expected and insisted upon – the perfect example being the current Ripponden Road resurfacing works.
“It is taking some people 50-60 minutes to do a simple three mile journey (or less) be it in the morning or in the evening. This cannot be right and the cost to our citizens and the business they work for must be enormous.
“The new labour administration undertook a review of the highways programme that the previous Lib Dem administration approved and, whilst that is their prerogative, the delays built into the system by the review has caused a major concertina effect.
“The whole situation as far as the public, the business community and the politicians is that there is a lack of direction and leadership and that things appear to be spiralling out of control.
“The public of this Borough are appealing in the strongest terms to me and my colleagues to take this by the scruff of the neck, bang some heads together and get the borough moving again.
Howard and the Liberal Democrats will continue to monitor the situation and to lobby for improvement on behalf of local residents and businesses.