'I feel like I've been trapped in my own road': Confusion and chaos on the streets of Withington

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Furious families have spoken out about the newly ‘controversial’ traffic calming measures installed in South Manchester. In mid-August, plant filters were installed across Withington as part of a six-month trial for an Active Neighbourhood project to improve road safety.

The plans for the project include encouraging people to walk, wheel and cycle rather than drive, improving health and wellbeing and stopping people using residential roads as cut-throughs. Join our WhatsAp p Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link. However, this scheme to remove ‘rat running’ by installing modal filters along Parsonage Road, Wilmslow Road, Alan Road, Heaton Road and other surrounding streets has caused an uproar of confusion and controversy in the neighbourhood. “My god - what a mess,” one resident said.

While another resident argued: “If people drove without speeding and driving dangerously there wouldn’t be any need for them.” One of the main concerns among residents is emergency services getting to people in time and that there are no notices on how drivers should adjust their journeys.

Manchester City Council (MCC) said in a statement ‘emergency vehicles will still be able to drive onto the street’. What do you think of the scheme? Have your say in our comments below The scheme follows concerns raised by residents about road safety around the Parsonage Road area and as a result, the area was selected by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the Council to be part of a Greater Manchester Active Travel programme, which puts in measures designed to make it safer to walk and cycle.