Sheffield dad calls for rethink on road changes over child safety
Petition calls for council rethink on scheme to end bus hold-ups
A Sheffield dad has spoken of his fears for the safety of children on neighbourhood roads if bus priority changes go ahead.
Ahsan Ashraf presented a 32-signature petition to the November 4 meeting of Sheffield City Council. It calls for the council to rethink plans to restrict traffic on Hucklow Road, Firth Park to improve bus hold-ups.
Mr Ashraf said: “My child attends Hucklow Primary School, which is located on Hucklow Road, and my family walks these roads every day.”
He added: “The proposals restrict vehicles turning at the Barnsley Road and Hucklow Road junction. The traffic doesn’t just simply disappear because we restrict traffic at one junction.
“It moves to the nearest available junctions, which in this case is much smaller residential roads like Mortlake Road and Wheldrake Road – roads which are very narrow and lots of children use walking to local primary schools.
“In the spring and summer months children are playing on the pavements and we think that it increases the risk of accidents if we increase the traffic on these roads.
“The council highways team are also proposing to remove green spaces, verges around the primary school and widen specific sections of Hucklow Road.
“This will make it harder for children and the elderly to cross the widened road safely.”
Mr Ashraf asked for a zebra crossing on Hucklow Road by the school to hugely improve road safety for children.
In an area of significant disadvantage, people may not have the skills or confidence to navigate documents to understand how the roads scheme consultation affects them, he said.
He added: “Please don’t make our future generation, kids in our area, pay the price for these badly thought-out proposals that benefit bus movement over child safety and local residents’ safety.”
Coun Alexi Dimond, chair of the council’s transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, responded that child road safety and sustainable public transport are both council priorities.
Buses are often delayed on Hucklow Road by parked cars.
Coun Dimond said that a wide junction near the school would be narrowed to make it safer to cross. The displacement of traffic is expected to be low.
He offered to speak to Mr Ashraf about his concerns.