Some junctions and road crossings across Liverpool are dangerous and are leading people to ‘take their life into their own hands’, a number of residents have claimed.
The city’s highways are made up of a complex and wide variety of designs that adhere to the highway code and standards.
However residents believe some stand out more than others for their inherent risk when attempting to cross over or cycle through.
READ MORE: Storm Malik to unleash chaos across UK from Saturday
As the city looks to move closer to hopes of being net zero carbon by the year 2030, one way of reducing emissions will be to encourage more people to make journeys via active travel.
However, based on claims sent to the ECHO, many people do not feel safe on certain crossings and junctions across the city.
Here are some that cropped up when the ECHO asked its readers to raise some of the junctions they most feared and felt were most at risk of an accident.
Junction of Wellington Road, Rathbone Road, Picton Road, Wavertree
Described as a junction where people “take their life into their own hands” when attempting to cross.
The junction, in a highly dense residential area, carries a high amount of traffic going to and from the city centre, as well as another lane of traffic heading north and southbound.
The junction in Wavertree currently has no pedestrian traffic lights, so it is claimed that pedestrians are forced to cross when they believe there is a short window when all sets of lights are on red.
One Twitter user, Josh Owen Morris, said it “makes life awful for anyone not able to run and dodge the speeding traffic.”
Another Twitter user, Iain, said: “Pedestrians are constantly taking their life into their own hands there.”
Another local resident, Elke Weissmann said the junction is “horrendous”.
Speaking to the ECHO, she added: “There's no pedestrian crossing. There's mothers and kids running over hoping they won't be killed. And that can't be the case anymore - it's the 21st century.”
According to Bike Data, there have been 27 collisions in the area between 1999-2020.
Junction at St James Street, Great George Street, Liverpool City Centre
With one of the busiest roads carrying traffic into the city centre, the junction of St James Street and Great George Street on the edge of the Baltic Triangle stands out as a particular danger to pedestrians and cyclists.
There is no pedestrian crossing to get over St James Street outside of The Wedding House and, while the new Legacie development continues to go up on the corner of Great George Street, the crossing has the added worry of a blind spot as cars leave the junction and head towards Park Lane from St James Street.
According to Bike Data, there have been four collisions in the area between 1999 and 2020.
However, according to local Cllr Steve Munby, as more people decide to walk to town from homes in South Liverpool, the junction could pose more of a threat to pedestrians.
He told the ECHO: “I often cycle across it. It's nasty. You've got a big junction just around the corner and you've got cars coming into town, swerving around.
“I think it will probably be a bit better once the Legacie building is finished as it’s a bit cut off by that.
“However, I think there is a strong argument that you need some proper crossing put in there.”
Junction at Canning Street and Catherine Street, Liverpool City Centre
A number of ECHO readers got in touch to highlight one junction in the Georgian Quarter.
At this junction there is no pedestrian crossing with heavy flows of traffic coming in and out of the city centre and towards Smithdown Road.
One Twitter user, Ed, outlined how “there's nothing for pedestrians” at the junction and that there are few provisions for pedestrians further along Catherine Street - one of the busiest roads in the Georgian Quarter.
There have been four recorded collisions at the junction between 1999-2020 according to Bike Data.
Junction at Jericho Lane and Aigburth Road
This south Liverpool junction has a large amount of lanes with traffic going to and from the city centre as well as outdoor attractions like Otterspool and Sefton Park.
There is an underground subway which takes pedestrians safety below the traffic from one side of Jericho Lane towards Sefton Park.
However, those looking to cross towards the shops on the opposing side must navigate over four lanes of traffic with no pedestrian crossing in place.
The junction was highlighted by a number of users as being dangerous and unfriendly for pedestrians and cyclists, with Urban Planning lecturer at University Of Liverpool Dr Alex Nurse noting that it’s one of the worst in South Liverpool.
According to Bike Data, there have been nine collisions between the years of 1999-2020.
