No funds for junction improvements, council says

Funding is not available to make changes to a junction where seven non-fatal crashes have taken place since 2019, a council has said.

Of the incidents recorded by South Yorkshire Police at the Treeton Lane junction at Aughton, near Rotherham, five resulted in injuries.

MP for Rother Valley Jake Richards has called for urgent safety improvements.

A Rotherham Council spokesperson said they understood people had concerns about the junction but there were no plans to make changes due to "limited funding and resources".

Richards told the Local Democracy Reporting Service there had been a number of collisions at the site where Treeton Lane and Ulley Lane meet the 60mph (96kmh) Pleasley Road.

He said traffic from Treeton was a "massive problem".

"It is well known, to anyone who uses it, that this stretch of road is a problem," he said.

"I have discussed different options including traffic lights and a roundabout, as well as speed restrictions on the approach to the junction."

He accepted there could be "unintended consequences" to changes to the road layout and said he had urged the council to undertake a "full and thorough assessment" of the site.

Richards said the council had sent him various options for the road, but he wanted the authority to commit to developing "fully formed plans".

"I am determined to try to solve this long-running issue after years of dither and delay."

Andrew Bramidge, strategic director of regeneration and environment at Rotherham Council, said he understood the community's concerns about the junction.

"However, due to limited funding and resources, the council currently does not have plans in place to make changes to the junction," he said.

"We continue to listen to the representations being made and will consider whether improvements might be possible going forwards."

He said there were limits on what the council could deliver within the funding allocated to them and the authority remained in contact with the MP.

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