New crossing to improve road safety installed

Wednesday, 1 October 2025 20:40

By George Lythgoe

L-R - Shah Wazir, cabinet member for highways at Rochdale Borough Council, and local councillors - Sameena Zaheer and Iftikhar Ahmed, with Sandra Hartley, former executive headteacher at Greenbank Primary School and Howa

A new crossing has been installed on a busy main road in Rochdale in order to reduce potential deaths and injuries.

The pedestrian crossing point has been introduced outside Howard Street Nursery and Family Hub, as part of a wider scheme to eliminate road deaths and life changing injuries across Greater Manchester by 2040. According to the council, since 2018, there have been seven accidents in Howard Street – but no fatalities.

This street is a vital part of a wider network of walking and driving routes targeted by the local authority across the key central Rochdale area which are very busy.

The Howard Street crossing is just the latest to be unveiled in Rochdale borough over the past year.

Those completed previously include one at St Mary’s Gate, close to Rochdale town centre; in Shawclough Road, close to Healey Dell; in Oldham Road, Middleton; and across all four arms of the junction of Roch Valley Way, Bury Road and Sandy Lane.

While the other crossings are not part of the Vision Zero project, they have created a substantial safety boost across the borough.

The fund was established last year after Greater Manchester formally adopted Vision Zero, a strategy adopted by countries and cities worldwide to reduce road deaths and life-changing injuries to zero.

In Greater Manchester, the region is aiming to halve the number of casualties by 2030 and achieve zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2040.

Coun Shah Wazir, cabinet member for highways at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “I’m delighted to have seen this new crossing, which I know the school and nursery have also been very keen to see.

“We need to make it as easy as possible for people to make healthier travel choices and this is particularly vital in the case of children and their parents and carers, who will derive huge health benefits from walking and wheeling to school and nursery wherever possible.”

Former executive head of Greenbank Primary School and the Howard Street nursery, Sandra Hartley, added: “I was really pleased to come back and see the new crossing, as it’s something we had been working with the council to get delivered.

“This is a high traffic area, so it’s great to see something which will improve safety and make a real difference for our children and their parents and carers.”