I WOULD like to respond to Peter Jackson’s letter in last week’s Journal about the vibrations of vehicles causing problems to homes on Hamilton Street in Atherton.

The safety of our residents is very important to us and we are committed to investigating and taking appropriate action to reduce the number of road traffic casualties occurring.

Traffic calming features were installed along Hamilton Street in 2008.

The speed limit is currently 20mph and features have been positioned along the road to keep vehicle speeds low and consistent.

A speed survey which was completed before and after the installation showed a reduction of average speed in the region of 5mph.

There have been no reported road accidents which have caused injury in the past three years along Hamilton Street, therefore we would not recommend removing the traffic calming features which provide access to two schools and a public park.

We are aware that large vehicles use Hamilton Street to bypass Atherton town centre, and due to previous concerns we have installed road signs at either end of the street to advise that the road is unsuitable for HGVs.

We are going to undertake a traffic count on Hamilton Street to establish how many HGVs are using the road.

This will help us to see if any further measures are required.

We will also write to businesses in the area to advise them that any HGVs accessing their business should avoid Hamilton Street.

Mark Tilley

Assistant director for infrastructure

Wigan Council