“I had to help an elderly lady who had fallen on their uneven and unsafe walkway” – Salford resident outlines roadworks problems

A Salford teacher has questioned the importance and safety of the £20m extension of Trafford Road scheme.

Jonathan Colquitt, who lives on Vancouver Quay, adjacent to the ongoing roadworks, has labelled the scheme as “unsafe” and “worse”, than they previously were.

He stated: “I had to help an elderly lady who had fallen on their uneven and unsafe walkway.

“They coned and fenced some areas off to walk on, but there was wires trailing across, its like rubble”

He also outlined the social issues with the scheme: “The population in Salford Quays is growing, if you’re driving out of Salford Quays to turn out onto Trafford Road, they’ve reduced it down to one lane, and their finished version is one lane out of Salford Quays.

“Things are going to get a lot worse from now on, especially when there’s a matchday or events on at The Lowry.”

It was announced last week that phase two of the resurfacing, which was due to be finished on October 15, would be continuing until November.

The roadworks won’t be completed until late 2022, despite originally being scheduled to finish at the start of 2022.

Jonathan expressed his disappointment. He followed: “It’s not been short term pain, the length of time isn’t short term and with there now being more traffic, there is more pollution to the environment.”

The roadworks are proving to be very controversial with the public, with residents voicing their anger online.

Are you serious?! The length of time this project has been underway is ridiculous. What have the surveyors been doing? Will you be paying motorists back retrospectively for over running of these roadworks that we’ve had to put up with far too long? Again motorists suffering!!

— Ian Thomson (@IanThom73800732) September 20, 2022

Despite there being public backlash and complaints, Salford City Council maintain that the major scheme will help further regenerate Salford, and they are doing their best to limit disruptions by doing overnight work.

Councillor Mike McCusker said: “Trafford Road is the biggest road scheme that we have underway and is set to be transformative for residents, cyclists and motorists when we expect it to reopen in the coming months.

“I am delighted that the scheme is moving to resurfacing work towards the M602 roundabout as it shows we are nearing the completion of this project and I would ask residents, businesses and commuters to continue exercising their utmost patience with us as we enter this new phase of the works.

“We are doing all we can to minimise disruption by carrying out this work at night so we don’t fully close roads during the day and ensuring that, where possible, the noisiest work does not take place overnight.”