New Safety Camera for Bolton Road, Bury

Reporter: Ask Bury
Date online: 27 July 2006

Bury Council and the Greater Manchester Casualty Reduction Partnership have been given the go-ahead by the Department for Transport (DfT) to install a new fixed speed camera on Bolton Road, Bury.

Every year, the council carries out a review of the collision records within the borough in order to identify sites where speed-related collisions have resulted in significant numbers of personal injuries.

As a result of this work, a site on Bolton Road, between its junctions with Kensington Drive and Glenboro Avenue, has been identified as being one which should benefit from enforcement using safety camera equipment.

Within the limits of the site there have been sufficient recorded casualties (including serious injuries) to meet the Department for Transport’s criteria for the introduction of a new fixed speed camera.

The Department for Transport’s criteria also includes speed-related elements and traffic count data has identified that these are met due to the numbers of vehicles currently exceeding the speed limit by a considerable margin within the proposed site.

A location has been selected for the safety camera where it can monitor traffic close to the Haig Road junction. The camera housing will be erected on the north side of Bolton Road to the immediate east of the frontage to the Royal Fusiliers’ Museum and before the existing bus lay-by.

This site meets the entire Department for Transport criteria regarding visibility and accessibility for operatives.

It is hoped that the camera will be installed and fully operational within the next three months.

The installation of the safety camera was endorsed by the members of the Bury West Area Board at its meeting on 17 July.

Councillor John Byrne, Executive Member for Environment and Transport said: "This is the only location in the borough which currently meets the entire Department for Transport criteria for introducing a new fixed camera site. I’m confident that its presence will make a positive contribution to road safety on Bolton Road and will support the other Local Safety Scheme and improvement works currently being introduced along this particular route."