Warrington Road A5080 is to close for 13 weeks as part of major works to the South Lane Railway Bridge between Widnes and Warrington at the beginning of August. Network Rail has stated that traffic will be diverted via Widnes Road (A562) and Watkinson Way (A557). We are all hoping that drivers adhere to the diversion signs that will be put in place and do not use Moorfield Road as a cut through for the next 13 weeks, but we all know the chances of that happening are very slim.
The road safety issues on Moorfield road are well known to all who live around here, without the added pressure of drivers ignoring the diversion signs on the A557 and using Moorfield Road as a cut through. Local residents have been in contact with the Moorfield Road Action Group expressing their concerns, about the increase in traffic that this diversion might bring, whilst work is carried out on the South Lane Railway Bridge. It's bad enough that we all continue to see vehicles driving at excessive speeds, witness dangerous driving and see over-sized HGV's using Moorfield Road as a quick cut through to the local industrial estates and this diversion could make matters even worse.
By now some of you should have received a letter from Network Rail informing you about the work to be carried out on the South Lane Railway Bridge and subsequent road closures. The letter stated that if you had any concerns whatsoever to ring a number provided on the letter to speak to the community liaison team. On Monday the 5th July, a representative from the Moorfield Road Action Group telephoned the number provided on the letter and spoke to one of the customer service team to express our concerns with regards to how the diversion could affect the volume of traffic on Moorfield Road. As a resident of Moorfield Road for many years and a member of the Moorfield Road Action Group they explained the history of Moorfield Road being an extremely dangerous road to live on and the fact that both Halton Borough Council and Cheshire Police won't do anything about it. They were told that someone from the project team would call them back within the week but as of Friday the 16th of July, nobody had contacted them, so they telephoned again.
After going through the history again with another Customer service advisor they were told that they would receive a call from the project team, but instead they received a call from the community liaison team instead. They asked what signage would be placed at the top of Moorfield road to prevent any misuse of the road by HGV'S and where the diversion signs were likely to be situated. Network Rail stated that it has no involvement in these matters and it was Halton Borough Council, who decides the diversion routes and any associated signage and placement. Network rail advised to contact our local Councillors to raise our concerns, but as we all know, this is would be a waste of our time and pointless as this project does not affect them. Network Rail then advised to contact our Local M.P to raise our concerns to him, but again as we all know he does not involve himself in Local council matters, unless the issue involves Councillor Andrea Wall. So, why does Network Rail provide contact to a community liaison team to deal with the concerns of affected residents, when they can't provide any information or have no control over what will be happening when the work is taking place?
Will Cheshire Police be visible to enforce the legal requirements of Moorfield Road during these works, with the potential increase in traffic using the road as a cut through to Warrington Road? We don't think so! Despite an agreement being in place with our community, they can't even meet the agreed amount of speed enforcement on a regular basis. We can only hope that Halton Borough Council have put sufficient signage in place to avoid creating more problems and dangers for our community. From past experiences with Halton Borough Council, we do not hold out much hope for this!
We think it's going to be a long 13 weeks for residents living on and around our road but Halton Borough Council doesn't care! Cheshire Police doesn't care! So let us hope that the diversions that have been put in place do not allow drivers to clog up the residential back roads to avoid the bridge work or allow more HGV drivers to ignore the legal weight restrictions of 7.5 tonnes by using Moorfield Road.
Please remember to report all road traffic issues to Cheshire Police by using the dedicated email address for the use by local residents only. The email address is as follows:
LPU.Widnes.Moorfield@cheshire.pnn.police.uk
Once Again, thank you for your continued support!
In the meantime everyone take care of yourselves and each other!
Contact: moorfieldroadactiongroup@gmail.com