Chaos on Drake Street must be resolved!

Central Ward Councillor - Khalid Mahmood is calling on Rochdale Council to "get its house in order" following dozens of complaints about the new "temporary" traffic lights on the junction of Drake Street and Water Street. Speaking at last week's Council Meeting - Cllr. Mahmood told of his frustration after his Central Ward Colleagues were not invited to contribute to the debate on this road closure.

Cllr. Mahmood said, "This situation cannot continue - we have contacted the Council who tell us that there have been complaints about the problems that these lights have caused. They have promised us that they will only be there till March - but the chaos that they are causing cannot continue until then. There have been huge tail backs on Drake Street, surely the Council can come up an alternative way of running the diversion."

Meanwhile - Lib Dem Leader of the Opposition, Cllr. Alan Taylor said, "I am surprised that United Utilities have not consulted with the Central Ward Councillors regarding this issue. We appreciate that the work needs to be done and therefore a diversion is needed. I welcome the fact that the Council have agreed to programme of continuous monitoring and will investigate to see if the phasing can be improved - I encourage anybody with problems to complain to the traffic department of the Council as soon as possible."

The reason that these traffic lights are here is because work needs to be done on John Street and the bottom of Drake Street. Rochdale Borough Council have complained that the problems caused by the traffic lights are "...the best of a bad bunch" This work was delayed by 18 months and because of difficulties is only able to have been done now.

Cllr. Alan Taylor said, "I am hoping that the Council are genuine about their offer to investigate any problems caused by this - I expect see them react by listening to people in Rochdale and put measures in place to minimise any problems. What we need to make sure is that United Utilities or any other private company are liasing with Rochdale Borough Council and consulting with the public on any future road closures"