Residents' plea to stop speeders

Residents are calling for traffic-calming measures to be put in place on a Wigan road to stop drivers speeding.
Upholland Road, BillingeUpholland Road, Billinge
Upholland Road, Billinge

Vicki Greenall, a resident leading the plea, said she regularly sees people driving at speeds of up to 60 or 70 miles per hour at night along Upholland Road, despite the limit being 30.

Her concerns have been heightened since an uninsured driver she suspects was speeding crashed into her front garden a few weeks ago.

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Vicki, along with other concerned residents and help from Coun Michael Winstanley, have asked Wigan Council to put more measures in place to deter drivers from speeding.

She said: “I’d say 80 per cent of people driving along the road speed. I was driving at 30 along it the other day when someone overtook me and sped off. It was unbelievable.

“If you live on the road you know all about it but someone only has to sit there for an hour to see how bad it is.”

Vicki said she had spoken to the council but had been told there was nothing they could do.

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She said: “There was a petition set up a little while ago because of speeding on the road but the council just came back to us with statistics, saying this is how many accidents there have been and only one person has died.

“But that just appeared to me that more people needed to be killed on the road before they would do anything about it. It is absolutely ridiculous.

“How bad does it have to get before they will do something about it. They should be proactive, not doing something once the horse has already bolted.

“It starts from the roundabout, and you can see the young lads, some of them must be going 60 or 70 miles an hour.”

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Mark Tilley, assistant director of infrastructure at Wigan Council, said a speed survey will now take place. He added: “We would also encourage any members of the public that are concerned about speeding in their area to think about setting up a Community Speed Watch scheme.

Coun Winstanley said: “I did approach the council with a number of proposals from residents but none of these appeared possible. It would appear that the statistics don’t bear out the need for certain interventions but what I don’t want to happen is that we end up with serious injuries or worse caused by irresponsible drivers. The residents have my full support.”