Rat run street in Sheffield leaves residents in fear as drivers crash into properties and parked cars
“We feel it’s only a matter of time before something really bad happens”
Residents on a rat run street say they have faced abuse, damage to their cars and the tragic loss of pets, as they call on Sheffield Council to finally change layouts that allow speeding vehicles to cut through their road.
Smithywood Crescent in Woodseats is a short, winding road, that connects the busy A61 Chesterfield Road and Woodseats Road.
Yet, despite its narrow layout with two blind bends, residents claim that drivers constantly rush down the street in an attempt to avoid traffic - resulting in collisions and in one incident someone getting pinned to a wall.
Graves Park councillor Rob Bannister said: “There’s been an awful lot of problems going on here over the years, it’s an issue going back as far as 2012 - that was the first time I saw it brought to committee.
“At that point they did get a ‘residents only’ sign at the top of the road but the people are not in any way paying attention to that sign.
“Unfortunately the residents here have lost pets, there’s been an awful lot of property damage - damage to cars, to walls.
“One resident was even telling me that she basically got pinned to a wall and she showed me the bruises to prove it, which was pretty horrific.
“We feel it’s only a matter of time before something really bad happens and we’re trying to not allow that to happen.”
There are around 50 residents who live on the road, most of whom own a car.
Yet, a traffic survey found that around 4,800 cars used the road in just one week.
Jann Ashton, aged 51, who lives on the street, said that when using her wheelchair she faces danger as she has to travel on the busy rat run due to parked cars blocking the pavement.
“People get mad because they’ve been in the traffic waiting for so long and they absolutely fly down here,” she said.
“And then they’re surprised when they see something in the way.”
She said that in some of the worst instances, drivers have called her a “waste of space” after they’ve been forced to stop for her wheelchair.
Residents claim drivers can become aggressive when challenged about using their street as a cut through.
Residents have put forward a number of ideas, that councillors are attempting to help with, including the introduction of a one way system, blocking the road’s connection to Chesterfield Road, or the introduction of speed bumps.
Currently, both junctions offering entry to the road are fitted with ‘except for access’ signs, which ban vehicles from entering the street unless they have reason to visit a property there.
However, it is argued that these restrictions are difficult to enforce and many drivers may not even understand the meaning of the signs.
Resideny Phil Howling, 71, said that during rush hour there’s a “constant stream of traffic”.
He is calling for ‘no entry’ signs at the junction with Chesterfield Road to stop cars turning off and into the street.
He claims this system would stop the street being used as a rat run, but still allow residents to turn their vehicles around if necessary.
He continued: “So you’re replacing the ‘access only’ signs, which a lot of people don’t really understand what they mean, and you replace them with ‘no entry’ signs.
“People tend to respect those no entry signs.”