A local residents’ group is calling for barriers to be raised on a bridge over the M61. Work has been carried out at other bridges and now residents want the same action to be taken on the bridge at St Helens Road. In 2023, Bolton Coroners Court heard how a 55-year-old father jumped off the bridge after attending the Royal Bolton Hospital that same morning on October 12, 2022.
Just four days following his death, Stephanie Williams – of the Friends of Over Hulton group – began the group’s campaign to make the bridge safer. Now a petition has been set up urging authorities to enhance the barriers on the M61 motorway bridges. Stephanie says she received reassurances that action would be taken, but now she is worried given the amount of time that has passed.
The petition can be found at change.org/M61MotorwayBarriers Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox. Speaking to The Bolton News, the 46-year-old, who has lived in the area her whole life and previously worked for a suicide text helpline, said the bridge’s proximity to the hospital made action vital.
She said: “It makes me very angry, to be honest, and very frustrated. "I understand how easy it is sometimes for people to think there’s no other way out. “The fact there’s something that’s caused so many issues in the past and it’s just kind of been ignored – like we’ve raised it as an issue but nothing’s been done about it.
“It’s the trauma to the people o.