Motorists to vote on road hotspots

MOTORISTS are being given another chance to vote for their most hated traffic hotspots in a scheme which led to work being carried out to improve eight troublesome junctions.

In 2008, Sheffield Council launched the 115,000 Driving Me Crazy campaign, which asked drivers on the city’s roads to give details of areas they felt were dangerous or difficult.

A list of the most unpopular points on the road network was then drawn up, and a dedicated website was set up for the project which allowed people to vote for the worst.

Since the first poll, eight sites highlighted by the public have been the focus of engineering projects to make them safer and address congestion problems.

The success of the scheme has now led highways chiefs to repeat the exercise, and announce that the vote will take place each year to make sure drivers always have their say.

Sheffield Council’s transport department has revealed that a new list of 27 sites had been drawn up with a budget of 140,000, and anew vote for motorists is due to open next month.

The authority’s transport spokesman, Ian Auckland, said: “Driving Me Crazy puts Sheffielders in the driving seat, making real choices about priorities on the city’s roads.

“Local people are what matter for this project to work. We need them to tell us what their priorities are so we can make the highway network work better for them.

“Everything that is possible will be on the list for people to prioritise and for us to deliver.”

The new list of 27 locations was drawn up in conjunction with the Sheffield Motorists Forum, which includes members of the public, council, police and chamber of commerce.

One of the motorist members of the forum, Robert Prior, said he thought that Driving Me Crazy was a “fabulous idea” but was ultimately limited by financial and political considerations.

Mr Prior, who runs Internet marketing business Metrea Ltd from an office in Sheffield city centre, added: “What the council want to do is find something that’s a bit of a problem and say ‘there, that’s fixed’.

“But as with any project like this the lists of schemes that are brought to the table are put together with an eye on the council budget, as they have to be, and political ideas.

“The things that drive motorists most crazy might never come forward for cash reasons or political reasons – for example the one way system in Pinstone Street in Sheffield city centre.

“Both major political groups in Sheffield are in favour of a city centre which is traffic-free, so that is a misguided policy which will not change, while smaller problems are looked at.”

Among the areas which are already receiving attention under Driving Me Crazy are Ecclesall Road South, where there has been a problem with confusion over speed limits, and Brook Hill Roundabout, where drivers are confused by poor road markings.

Work also continues on several projects from the first round, including traffic signal repair at the junction of Penistone Road and Rutland Road, which causes traffic congestion and problems with access to the Tesco supermarket in Abbeydale Road.

Coun Auckland said that although 27 sites had been chosen for the second round, 150 hotspots had been nominated in total, and it was hoped to address them all in future rounds of the project.

He added: “It is proposed that Driving Me Crazy will become an established regular programme that local people can feed into, working with Community Assemblies to agree priorities in local areas.”

For more details about the Driving Me Crazy scheme and how to vote, visit www.sheffield.gov.uk/transport

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