Hunter's Bar Sheffield: Campaigner calls for more safety measures on busy Yorkshire road

Campaigner Christopher Beck is leading calls for a better crossing at Hunter’s Bar, on Ecclesall Road near the entrance to Endcliffe Park.

He started a petition, which so far has nine signatures, urging Sheffield Council to put traffic calming measures and an island barrier opposite the Meditation Centre.

In his petition statement he said: “Competitive instincts override customary English civility as drivers leave the roundabout heading for Dore and approach the bus stop area.

"The road narrows from two lanes to one, and many drivers accelerate to be ahead of each other.

"Frequently during the day, the air is filled with the sound of rapidly accelerating engines and horns. Drivers should be guided into adopting safer driving.”

Sheffield Council’s response

Mr Beck presented the petition at December’s full council meeting which was held at The Octagon, a University of Sheffield building, but most councillors, including all of the co-operative executive, were absent due to a last minute response to strike action at the venue which had been planned weeks in advance.

Minutes before the meeting, Labour and Green councillors announced they would not cross the picket line to use The Octagon for the meeting – meaning they all missed Mr Beck presenting his petition.

In the absence of the majority of councillors, Mr Beck said he did not get to rally the cause and it feels as though the campaign group is “cycling uphill, using only one leg”.

An email written on behalf of councillor Douglas Johnson, co-operative executive member for transport, in response to the calls said: “As I am sure you will appreciate, there are a number of old pieces of highway infrastructure across the city, which do not necessarily conform to modern design standards.

"Given the funding constraints, it will be a large and expensive task to retrospectively make all junctions, crossing and layouts meet modern standards across the whole network.

“Unfortunately, this crossing does not feature in our road safety investment programme plans given the need to address other, more dangerous sites across the city.

“However, as you know, the Connecting Sheffield proposals for Ecclesall Road are now live and we are looking to see how we can improve the pedestrian movements in the Hunter’s Bar area.

“I have asked the team to look at the crossing as I want to use any opportunity to make the new layout as pedestrian friendly as possible, with movements that will be made easier, clearer and safer for people using it.

“We are also proposing to remove the uphill bus lane between Hunter’s Bar roundabout and Rustlings Road bus stop near the roundabout.

“This would reduce the need for vehicles to merge immediately after the roundabout near the controlled crossing and allow a smooth flow of traffic towards Ecclesall Road South."