Burnham quizzed on ‘absolute carnage’ from Oldham roadworks

The mayor said he would ask Transport for Greater Manchester to produce a report to see if they could help Oldham Council solve any of the issues.

Lee, from Oldham, called into the mayor’s weekly BBC Radio Manchester hotseat show on Thursday.

Lee said: “Good morning, Andy. I’d like you to try and find out which idiot or idiots at Oldham Council, because I know there’s quite a lot of them, have approved all the roadworks that are currently taking place in Oldham and the outlying areas.

“The borough is now completely inaccessible by road. It’s taken us an hour to travel five miles to our place of work. You’ve got four-way traffic lights throughout the area. It’s absolute gridlock.

“Oldham town centre is literally closed, the A62 going out to Mumps – and Mike will attest to this because he lives in the area – it’s absolute carnage.

“I traveled from the Tommyfield pub last Wednesday to my home two miles away and it took me an hour and 20 minutes. Who has sanctioned all these roadworks to take place in Oldham at one time?”

Presenter Mike Sweeney echoed Lee’s concerns, adding: “I’ve got to say that he’s actually not exaggerating, the traffic in greater Oldham is horrendous.”

According to one.network, which carries official notices of traffic restrictions and roadworks, around 30 roadworks likely to cause delays were due to take place this week and next around the borough.

Mike Sweeney echoed the caller's concerns (Image: BBC)

The mayor responded: “I was there myself last night, I was meeting with Oldham Coliseum, but I was there and I saw it, experienced it and the honest answer is it’s not my organisation or Transport for Greater Manchester.

“I’m not trying to deflect here, but that’s the reality. I will have to look into why things are being done in the way they’re being done.”

Mike added: “It’s like a perfect storm, everything’s done at once.”

Mr Burnham continued: “The bit that is my responsibility, of course, is Metrolink, and that then adds to the roadwork issues because of the way that the trams come into Oldham.

“All I can say is that I could see some of the issues that were there yesterday, maybe we could help the council in some way because it might be dealing with a challenging situation.

“I think what I’ll do is I’ll ask for a report from TfGM as to whether or not there’s things that we could do at the Greater Manchester level to help, but yes it’s a challenging situation, no doubt about it.”

Andy Burnham responded to the call on his weekly phone-in show (Image: BBC)

Caller Lee then explained that one of the main problems was temporary traffic lights near Sainsbury’s petrol station creating a ‘backlog’ and ‘pinch point,’ before describing the situation as ‘mental’.

Mr Burnham said he would take a look at the issues raised.

The full episode of Mr Burnham’s hot seat can be watched on Facebook Live or audio streamed via BBC Sounds.

Other topics discussed on this week’s episode include the Manchester Arena bombing inquiry, Oldham Coliseum, and public transport.

Councillor Hannah Roberts, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused to residents and businesses at what we know is a difficult time.

“Teams are carrying out essential works on the Oldham Way bridge at Waterloo and Wellington Street so it is fit for purpose and can be used for years to come.

“As it’s a 40-year-old structure, if we didn’t do these works now, then it would cost us significantly more money to repair in the future.

“Please bear with us – the work will mean the bridges are in a good state of repair.

“Last week the disruption was heightened when a sewer pipe collapsed on Lees Road, meaning we had to close the road while United Utilities carry out urgent repair works – the road is expected to open the week commencing 13th March 2023.

“In addition to these urgent works, we also had other emergency utility works which increased pressure on the network.

“We are working diligently to finish the work as quickly and safely as possible.

“To reduce further disruption, we have stopped six other traffic management permit applications until Lees Road is back open to ease congested traffic flows.

“We are also removing the temporary signals at Platting Rd and Stockport junctions, which will ease congestion on the A62 Huddersfield Rd and A669 Oldham Road.”