DUE to the new station being built at Chapelford a section of Sycamore Lane was blocked which caused vehicles to be diverted through Dorchester Road estate.

Dorchester Road has many parked vehicles and many bends. In the morning when people are going to work, the road gets blocked at the junction of Hood Lane caused by vehicles leaving Chapelford, who have priority on their to way to Cromwell Avenue.

Recently I saw a fire engine trying to turn into Dorchester Road from Hood Lane but it was obstructed by congestion. It took about 30 seconds before it could get through.

Fortunately, the fire engine wasn’t answering an emergency. Another area of serious congestion is at the junction of Tankersley Grove and Whittle Avenue where drivers consistently block the island and prevent vehicles from turning right.

I wrote to Mark Tune, who is in charge of traffic management at Warrington Borough Council, requesting that Sycamore Lane at the junction of Liverpool Road where the footbridge is located, is opened to allow vehicles to turn left to the island at Sankey Way where they could disperse in one of three directions.

Vehicles have to travel two thirds of Sycamore Lane to turn into Dorchester Road.

So why not travel the last section where the road is wider and there are houses only on one side? By doing that, the emergency vehicles could enter at that point and have easy access to both Sycamore and Dorchester estates.

When I didn’t get a reply from Mr Tune, I rang him to find out what he thought of my suggestion.

I’m afraid I wasn’t impressed by his excuses. He said ‘I have a hundred jobs in the pipeline and there would have to be consultations with other people’.

All the jobs in the pipeline are probably pot holes which need filling, which has never been a priority with councils and having to consult with others seems so ridiculous.

He is the man in charge so why can’t he make a sensible decision? Listening to his excuses, the word inertia kept coming to mind. When the station is complete and the road is unblocked there will be congestion from Burtonwood Road to Whittle Avenue.

A lot of traffic could take advantage of my suggestion if it is adopted. By opening up the road it would be like opening the floodgates to relieve pressure of water. So give my suggestion priority.

JK CLARKE Great Sankey