Your views wanted on £30m removal of Sheffield's Shalesmoor roundabout - but verdict is already in
A major roads project has been criticised for attempting to fix something that isn’t broken
A public consultation is set to be launched into a £30m roundabout removal project in Sheffield - but the verdict is already in.
Sheffield City Council is to seek views on a two-year overhaul of Shalesmoor Gateway ahead of works starting in 2028.
The roundabout is set to be replaced by traffic lights and ‘free-flowing’ left turns to ‘speed up journeys for all, especially for people travelling by bus or tram’, and improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
Bids for funding were originally made in 2022 and the authority must send fresh traffic data to the Department for Transport before money is released, The Star understands.
The next stage will be a ‘full public consultation’.
But hundreds of people have already had their say - and they think it’s a terrible idea.
Local politicians said the project would upgrade a “dreadful” junction in a fast growing area. More than 1,100 homes are earmarked for nearby Neepsend and Furnace Hill.
But Star readers think Shalesmoor roundabout does not warrant the expense or disruption.
They think the Brook Hill ‘university’ roundabout, and others, are worse.
Some believe roundabouts keep traffic moving better than lights, and some say there are more deserving infrastructure projects across the city.
Shalesmoor roundabout is a T-junction where Hoyle Street meets the A61, with Penistone Road in one direction and Shalesmoor in the other.
Planners must devise a way of avoiding gridlock as roads are re-laid, four bike crossings are installed and tram powerlines are moved.
Reader Phil Vintin said: “There are much more useful ways to spend this money. I drive along there regularly and never once considered there to be an issue with it.”
“No issue with Shalesmoor whatsoever. We use it daily. It’s ironic when the university roundabout up the hill has almost weekly incidents and bumps and not a thing is done.”
Howard Greaves said spending £30m and two years mending something which is not broken was “quite obscene.”
The Leppings Lane, Herries Road junction in Hillsborough used to have free-flowing traffic when there was a roundabout there, he claimed. And the installation of traffic-lights has created “permanent snarl-ups.”
Meanwhile, a £5m traffic scheme in Woodseats had resulted in “permanent slow-moving traffic down Meadowhead.”