Council bosses agree to Bridge Foot changes

3:00pm Friday 28th September 2012 in News

Bridge Foot will be changed Bridge Foot will be changed

NEW road markings will be put in place on Bridge Foot after the controversial changes brought misery to motorists.

The changes were made two weeks ago but have seen scores of complaints and drivers stuck in hour long queues.

Now senior councillors have made the decision to alter the markings again -  following pressure from the Warrington Guardian.

A council spokesman said: “Senior elected members of Warrington Borough Council have reviewed the recent amendments to road markings on the Wilson Patten Street/Bridge Foot approach to the Bridge Foot roundabout with officers.

"Following this exercise the highways team will carry out immediate remedial works to rectify issues arising from the revised lining scheme.

"The amendments will result in the three lanes at the Wilson Patten Street/Bridgefoot entry having the following designations:

  • Lane 1 (short lane near the Lower Bridge Street) - A49N (A57)
  • Lane 2 Retail Park & A5061 (Knutsford Road)
  • Lane 3 A49(S) Wilderspool Causeway & A5060 Chester Road These changes will be implemented as soon as possible.

"The council would like to take this opportunity to apologise for any confusion and inconvenience caused to the travelling public.

"Motorists are asked to be aware whilst familiarising themselves with the amended road layout.”

Comments(19)

Karlar says...
3:07pm Fri 28 Sep 12

"Now senior councillors have made the decision to alter the markings again - following pressure from the Warrington Guardian." This is a change for the better. May we please have more and more decisions made by the elected members of the Council.

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MikeJT says...
3:19pm Fri 28 Sep 12

HOWEVER....I can see an issue with traffic coming over the bridge and wanting to take the A49 (N). This will be a single lane which has to cross the other two. Whilst the announcement is a **** set better then the layout currently is, its still not as good as the layout was before the changes.

It wasnt the lanes themselves that were the problem, it was the unclear signage on the approach roads to Bridge Foot.

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notatcreamfields says...
3:26pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Why should the tax payer have to yet again pay for this Council's errors? Who ever signed this work off without actually taking notice of it should be forced to pay for first the original bad road marking's being put down with no real thought and no for the markings to be returned to normal? It's not really very fare for this joke to be paid for outta the Council tax kitty. Maybe if councillors and MPs were forced to personally pay for ridiculous mistakes they've made i've got a feeling these ridiculous situations will become less and less of a problem because if they get it wrong they'll be paying for it out of their own over inflated wages that have never stopped increasing unlike normal public sector wages that have remained frozen. It's time to stop passing the buck and for individuals to take responsibility for their mistakes which cost money we can't afford to be spending. Maybe they're doing things like they did in the old days of the Labour Government spending money for the sake of it so they can justify the high rates of Council tax that were raised unbelievably high in Labours 13 years in Government because if Council's didn't spend all their money from Council tax payers and funding from Central Government then they wouldn't be able to raise Council tax nearly by 100% in such a short amount of time plus they wouldn't get as much money the following year from the Government? That's the only reason i can think of cause there's no way on earth that somebody high up in the Council though changing BridgeFoot lane priorities would ease traffic, i'd like to think all of the bosses would on it'd do totally the opposite. I'd expect a junior in the office to think it was a good idea but that's about it. I think it's time the Council told us the real reason they did it and if it was just to spend money so they don't lose their bid to massively raise Council tax next year, i wouldn't be suprised if the increase was 10%-20% in all honesty and they know people have got to pay it because if they don't WBC will be booking the Magistrates courts in advance for a 2 month window dedicated to get liability orders that they'll then send on to bailiffs to come to our properties. Somethings definately not right with them spending money on something they knew was ridiculous and wouldn't last. Is anyone else a bit worried by this? Next they'll be putting traffic lights on the Battersby lane round about and the junction of Longford Street and Orford lane just to justify to the Government as to why they're going to increase Council Tax by such a large margin. I've only got this feeling because WBC have spent on numerous ridiculous things to justify large rise's in Council Tax and to keep their same level of Government funding in the past and councillors are hardly the most honest people in the world specially are MP Helen Jones that got her fingers caught in the cookie jar with the expenses scandel that she's STILL not apologised to people in her electrote.

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defor_dog says...
3:39pm Fri 28 Sep 12

I was on Wilson Patten Street this afternoon around 1.00pm. My average speed was about 5mph all the way from the Police Station to the traffic lights at Mr Smiths.

And yes, 95% of the cars in front of me wanted the A49south/Knutsford Road/A5060 exit. So I dread to think what it is like during rush hour!

I can't wait to see their "improvements.."

Another problem that needs sorting out is the traffic lights on the Causeway - The right hand lane is for Gainsborough Road, but this could be changed for a "Morrisons" lane.

This would reduce the amount of queueing on the Causeway, which will then help the flow of traffic around Bridge Foot.

If you need to access Gainsborough Road - use the A5060 Chester Road and turn left..

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Wires2012 says...
4:00pm Fri 28 Sep 12

what a bunch of idiots the council "road planners are" typical people who tick boxes .... only last week they were defending the lane changes - now they have amended the changes!

are the council going to refund the extra fuel spent by motorist who use bridgefoot every day!

NEXT TIME CAN THE MOTORIST WHO USE THE ROAD DAILY BE CONSULTED???

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silverlady54 says...
4:14pm Fri 28 Sep 12

I'm guessing that some of those 'senior councillors' have been inconvenienced by the lane changes and that is why the rapid change has occurred!

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grappenhall boy says...
4:38pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Now it seems that one is sorted out how about a bit of pressure brought to bear on the idiotic situation Hawleys lane Alban retail park A 49 junction.

I was there today the traffic lights from Hawleys lane onto A49 were green for about 15 seconds 5 vehicles got through,3 more went through against a red light,

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resident*1 says...
5:11pm Fri 28 Sep 12

WBC ( we're Bloody Clowns) strike again!

Party, brewery, couldn't.

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old-codger says...
6:13pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Every main road in Warrington is a nightmare.

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Karlar says...
7:04pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Come on at least they have apologized, although they still have to explain away the how the unnecessary expense will be paid for and by whom. If you don't give them some encouragement they will go back into their shells again and we will back where we started - officers making lump headed decisions.

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widnesman says...
8:49pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Many people will remember a number of years ago that Warrington applied for "city status".

I commented at the time that a city road system should have been built before the application.

Its time WBC took the initiative and built a road system to handle local and through traffic.

If this involves compulsory purchase and demolition then so be it!!

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MikeJT says...
6:12am Sat 29 Sep 12

Who remembers all the money that was spent on a traffic control system, the premise of which was that once you went through a green light on the A49 (whether it be M62 roundabout in the north or bridge foot in the south) that you would travel across Warrington without hitting a red light. Does the comment "if its too good to be true.........." strike a chord with anyone?

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madenuftowrite says...
10:55am Sat 29 Sep 12

The fact that "senior councillors" have become directly involved in reversing this council officer decision must have, a or a few council officers, waiting nervously to see if they are to be disciplined. Making the officer culprit(s) pay for the abortive costs out of their own wages/salaries would be a good outcome. I sincerely hope as a minimum that the person or persons responsible have learnt from this shambles - consult, consult and consult again.

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Karlar says...
11:37am Sat 29 Sep 12

You're whistling in the wind madenuftowrite if you are expecting any officers to be disciplined for no matter what they do in WBC. This is the birthplace of no blame culture. The best we can hope is that our elected Members will start to take back the power they had filched from them all those years ago.

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Daz@SankeyviaOrford says...
6:08pm Sat 29 Sep 12

I'm just glad that the "senior councillors " have pulled rank on the "highways chiefs" & the highways chiefs have then pulled rank on the "council officers" and the council officers pulled rank on the "WBC spokesman" & the spokesman said QUOTE "work has recently been carried out to change the lane markings at bridge foot to HELP improve traffic flow which is a part of an on going program of works". What a flaming bunch of boneheaded idiots, PLEASE could the drivers of this town see the next part of the ongoing program of works, before more of OUR money is waisted ? Warrington guardian should put pressure on WBC to publish this so called program of works, since they have so called been so istrumentle on the councils u turn.. As for people thinking its just a spend budget exercise so council tax can be put up , I think WBC have chosen lots of other areas to waist our money on without this being a conspiracy to increase council tax.

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Boxerboy says...
6:28pm Sat 29 Sep 12

I must be living on another planet !

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grey_man says...
7:40am Mon 1 Oct 12

Well at least it's welcome that they've faced up to the pigs ear that has been made of this and good to see councillors taking an active role in dealing with the incompetence of employees.

I don't think it's appropriate to ask incompetent employees to pay for their mistakes. But questions need to be asked about whether they are in the right career. This was so obviously a stupid decision, I hope there are some very harsh words for the people responsible.

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grappenhall boy says...
8:49am Mon 1 Oct 12

Who within their organization is going give them a good talking too, maybe the best way is for the Warrington Guardian to copy them in to our comments,then it may dawn on them just how far removed from reality these traffic planners really are.

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grey_man says...
10:13am Mon 1 Oct 12

I don't think that's the job of the Guardian. It's the job of the people we elect and unfortunately over recent years they have pretty much handed control over the council's employees to the stage where Diana Terris and John Earle could go tell them to take a running jump. Hopefully that will be changed but it's seemingly an ingrained culture.

What I find baffling is how the council can see a £100,000 saving on school buses as an economy whereas employing the kind of brainless windowlickers that are clearly in charge of the roads (and wasting far more) is not seen as an area for them to go at like a tramp on chips.

It's long overdue that the town's employees were reminded of their place.

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