Shropshire crash blackspot work moves a step closer
Improvements to one of the worst accident blackspots in Shropshire have moved a step closer almost two years after temporary traffic signals were installed.
A motorist who regularly uses the Upton Crossroads on the A464 near Shifnal claims drivers have been left frustrated over the length of time it has taken for highways bosses to examine road safety options for the junction where crashes have regularly happened.
The lights were fitted in April 2016 due to fears that the road was dangerous.
Now Shropshire Council has revealed that the final design to permanently revamp the location and slow down the traffic is almost complete.
There are plans to install illuminated signs on the main road which will be activated by vehicle sensors.
They will warn of approaching vehicles on the Upton Lane side roads.
The speed limit will also be lowered.
Alice Dilly, Shropshire Council’s senior traffic engineer, apologised for the length of time it has taken to come up with a solution to the problem, but said the focus has been on making sure the road is safe.
She said: “We are completing the final design elements and working closely with the contractors who will be carrying out the various elements of this scheme. We apologise for the ongoing inconvenience to drivers using this route, however, this has been to ensure road safety at this location.”
The move to change the road followed a string of collisions, including in March 2016 where a driver suffered a broken leg after his car clipped a wall and somersaulted through the air.
Prior to that there had been around eight accidents in four years including in 2013 when a blue Volkswagen Golf struck a barn at the junction, resulting in fears that the building may collapse.
There were also two fatal crashes in the 1990s along the stretch.
Ms Dilly was responding to claims from Eric Barker, of Keepers Lane, Codsall, who twice wrote to the highways department to complain about the delay in improving the junction, while drivers were being held up by the four-way temporary signals that change after almost two minutes each way.
He said: “I travelled every fortnight into Shifnal and only once saw any work on it. It takes one minute 45 seconds for a change to either way on the main road – I wrote to Shropshire Council on September 11 to ask how long we had to wait. Their reply said the lights were for road safety – and that a solution would be in place in March 2018. Two years of delay.
“I suggested that they remove the cones and put in two-way lights either permanently or temporarily, but they replied that a permanent light was not possible.”
In response the council said the junction was unsuitable for permanent signals as the equipment would “not adhere to the current design standards and safety criteria” and that it has not neglected the problem as the temporary signs and signals were a “necessary prevention measure”.
