A STRETCH of a busy Bolton road is to have its speed limit reduced.

The speed motorists are allowed to travel on part of Crompton Way will be reduced from 40 miles per hour to 30.

At Wednesday night’s Tonge with the Haulgh Area Forum, it was confirmed that £3,015 of the area forum’s flat rate budget had been spent on a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) in order to improve safety for residents and their vehicles.

Speaking at the meeting in the Tonge Ucan Centre, Cllr Nick Peel said it was unusual for there to be a 30 mile per hour zone on such a major road but the reduced limit was essential.

He said: "It is important for road safety. That stretch between Thicketford Road and the Bolton Castle at the junction with Tonge Moor Road is an incredibly busy and fast road.

"People have been killed crossing over there and there are lots of shops that people want to get to and children crossing over, there are a lot of pedestrians so that's the reason to do it.

"You don't tend to have a 40mph limit in such built up areas and there is a lot of housing around there, so perhaps it should have been done much earlier."

Chairing the meeting, Cllr Sherrington said they had campaigned for the change in the past but faced opposition because of the higher speed limits around the area.

However, limits have now been reduced, making it feasible for the adjourning road to match it.

She added: “Because roads coming on to Crompton Way are going to be 20 miles per hour it would be silly to have it go from 20 to 40, so people have come round to our way of thinking.

“The people who live on this section of road do not have driveways so we created parking areas for them.

“Unfortunately as that section is 40 miles per hour people have not parked there at night, which has impacted on surrounding streets like Cartmel Crescent and Tintern Avenue as they finish up with lots more traffic.

“Now people can park cars in the bays and it makes life a lot easier.”
In order for the speed limit to be reduced a TRO had to be paid for by the area forum.

Cllr Sherrington added: “A TRO had to be paid for out of the area budget but I think most people would agree that it makes sense and in general the public will be a lot happier to see the speed reduced.”