COMMUNITY representatives in Broomhill are to keep up the pressure for traffic improvements and action to tackle air pollution in the suburb and shopping centre.

They meet next week when they will consider the results of a symposium that heard council evidence that levels of nitrogen dioxide in parts of Sheffield, including on the A57 through the middle of Broomhill, are exceeding European limits and pose a serious risk to health.

“While local steps are being taken to reduce harmful emissions, such as the introduction of hybrid buses on the 120 and 52 bus routes, further measures will be necessary,” says a report by Broomhill Forum.

“Despite these efforts, there is increasing evidence that pollution levels are rising in some locations, as modern diesel engines emit finer particles and more NO2.”

In the short-term, the community organisation is pursuing a range of initiatives such as maintaining pressure on the council to make it safer for pedestrians to cross to the Crookes junction, asking local schools to encourage parents not to leave engines running while they wait to pick up their children, researching the type of traffic travelling through the shopping centre, pressing the benefits of car sharing and cycle training and urging the council not to licence old, inefficient black taxis.

In the longer term, it would like to see a ‘park and ride’ on the west side of Sheffield and even an extension of Supertram through Broomhill – and also on Ecclesall Road and Chesterfield Road.

via Suburb fumes over air pollution – Local – Sheffield Telegraph.