Rotherham MP launches petition against 'unsafe, nightmare' junction where cars queue 'as far as you can see'

A "nightmare" junction in Rotherham, where cars queue up "as far as you can see" is the target of an MP's campaign.

Action is being demanded by motorists and residents over the A618 Pleasley Road crossroads at Aughton, with Treeton Lane one side and Ulley Lane on the other.

They claim there are often crashes at the junction and regular queues, particularly if there are incidents on the nearby motorway network and motorists are looking for alternative routes.

And, only a short distance away is the junction at the Robin Hood Inn pub, where cars are also frequently unable to turn out of Aston Lane onto the same main road.

Queues reportedly build on a daily basis along Treeton Lane and Ulley Lane as cars are unable to safely turn, and the area has been the scene of a number of serious crashes in recent years.

Now, MP for Rother Valley Alexander Stafford has labelled the junction 'unsafe' and has launched a petition urging Rotherham Council to take action.

He told The Star: "The response for two decades to road safety issues in Aughton has been seriously lacking. The Treeton/Ulley crossroads is atrocious, with increasing delays and congestion, and drivers taking their lives into their hands turning onto the main road.

"The nearby Robin Hood junction turning towards Aston is almost as notorious. Added on to this the speed of vehicles travelling up from Whiston and through Aughton, and you can understand why residents have simply had enough.

"The local ward councillors have promised much and delivered nothing."

Mr Stafford announced his petition on his official Facebook page, accompanied by a video showing an extensive line of vehicles on Treeton Lane.

Mr Stafford wrote: "I took this video on a Thursday afternoon at 3pm in half term (February 15).

"The traffic was queuing as far as you could see down towards Treeton. No one could safely turn right into Aughton."

Residents in the video's comments agreed. One woman labeled the junction a "nightmare" that "should have been sorted out years ago."

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Another woman, who said she grew up in Aston and Treeton, wrote: "The lane was like this when I was a child. It's the same with the junction of the Robin Hood, I use it regularly to go to work. It is so dangerous in both areas."

Mr Stafford and residents pointed to how road safety at the junction had not kept pace alongside new housing developments.

Another resident: "Doesn't help that Treeton is used as a cut-through for everyone and it can't take the traffic. We are a small village. As well as that junction something needs looking at for when motorways are closed too."

Mr Stafford accused RMBC the South Yorkshire MCA of "huge waste planned for a pedestrian subway at Stag, ill-thought-out cycle lanes and low-traffic neighbourhoods."

He said: "With £1.5 billion coming to the SYMCA for public transport infrastructure improvements and potentially millions available to the council from the building of thousands of new homes at Waverley, there is no excuse for a lack of action.

"We cannot simply let RMBC and the local councillors push this into the long grass any further. For twenty years they have promised action and failed to deliver."

Rotherham MBC has been contacted for a comment.

The two junctions and surrounding roads are known as accident hotspots locally.

In September 2023, customers at the Robin Hood were shocked as a car and motorbike collided by Aston Lane.

And, in July 2022, police described a "nasty" collision on Main Street that saw an elderly couple taken to hospital.

Air ambulances have had to land on Pleasley Road a number of times in the past.

Watch video footage of the junction here.