Turton Road pedestrian crossing rejected by council officers

The father of the girl who was hit on Turton Road, Bromley Cross, has been left gutted by the recommendation not to install a crossing.

But ward councillor Nadim Muslim promised to keep pushing for road safety measures and Cllr Stuart Haslam, the executive cabinet member has called for a " further report be brought looking at the possible options that can be put in place in this location".

A 2,529 strong petition was handed into the council asking for a pedestrian crossing facility on Turton Rd, Bromley Cross.

Council officers carried out an assessment near the junction of Rigby Lane.

The petition was created after 12-year-old Scarlet Taziker was hit by a bus in January, when she was on her way home from Turton High.

Following the assessment the council said the junction did not meet the threshold for a pedestrian crossing.

The report added: "An analysis of the collision data shows that there have been no injury collisions in the past 5 years at this location there has been 1 collision which resulted in a serious casualty. The collision involved 2 vehicles with a rear end shunt. No pedestrians were involved."

The report drawn up by the council's  Highways and Transport department recommended that the report be agreed on, with no further action for a crossing to be taken.

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However, The Executive Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport, Cllr Stuart Haslam, rejected this and agreed “that a further report be brought looking at the possible options that can be put in place in this location”.

Scarlet’s grandma Sheila has previously spoken out to The Bolton News about the impact this has had on Scarlet and the family.

Sheila said: “I have to be positive for my family.

“When Scarlet’s dad Philip read the original report, he was absolutely gutted.

“I won’t let it rest.

“Whatever I can do from my end, I will do.

“It has to be done because it could be more serious next time.

“It’s a busy area during peak times, not just with Turton High, but other schools in the area, and people going to work.

“I don’t want this to be forgotten about.”

Some of the main concerns residents have are that Turton High School is at one end, and Canon Slade School at the other, and there isn’t an appropriate area for children to cross.

Cllr Muslim – who represents Bromley Cross - said: “The report was an internal look at getting a crossing at Turton Road, Rigby Lane.

Brave Scarlet recovering after accident

“But the findings weren’t in our favour, and it ruled that it wasn’t viable enough for a crossing.

“Cllr Haslam rejected the report because it didn’t fully address the problems on the road.

“We are looking at options where we can have another crossing.

“It’s vitally important, and residents want to have a crossing.

“It’s an incredibly busy road.

“And after the young girl was hit – thankfully not seriously – it could have been a lot worse.

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“We need it sooner rather than later because we don’t want another incident to be fatal.”

Scarlet with her grandma Sheila

“It has to be done because it could be more serious next time.

“It’s a busy area during peak times, not just with Turton High, but other schools in the area, and people going to work.

“I don’t want this to be forgotten about.”

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The report states that the decision is based on the number of pedestrians and the number of vehicles on the road, explaining that if it is above a certain value then ‘a more in-depth framework assessment will be carried out’.

But it noted that the number of pedestrians crossing the area between 8-9am was “below the threshold for consideration of any pedestrian facilities at this location”.

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Kathryn Henderson created the petition to try and make it safer for children to cross Turton Road.

Kathryn said: “They rejected it because when the survey was done there was a very high volume of traffic, but their survey said only one person crossed the road that day between 8-9am.

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“They said they can only survey at the exact point where the crossing will go.

“Clearly there are hundreds of people crossing, but at various points along the long road.”

A new report is expected to be carried out in either mid-September or early October at the Shady Lane stretch of the road.

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If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.