Drivers ignoring temporary signals at Shifnal danger junction
Motorists are ignoring traffic lights which were brought in near Shifnal after a car flipped through the air and crashed into a barn.
Today Shropshire Council said it is pleading with drivers not to ignore the lights which are set to remain on the A464 until next year.
The lights, which cater for a four-way junction, were put in place at the Upton Crossroads on the A464 in April because of fears that the road was dangerous and could lead to people being killed.
The road has become one of the county's worst accident blackspots - with the most recent crash taking place in March where a driver miraculously escaped with only a broken leg after his car clipped the wall of a property causing it to somersault through the air.
Consultants are currently looking at permanent traffic lights which will be put in place next year.
However, Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member responsible for highways, says frustrated drivers have been putting themselves, and others, at risk by jumping the current temporary lights.
Councillor Jones said that jumping the lights also causes further disruption for other motorists because a fail-safe mechanism means all four junctions switch to red.
He said: "There have been several accidents there and a couple of walls have been knocked down.
"We have carried out a survey and the ideal solution will be four-way traffic lights but at the moment to avoid any more accidents we have temporary traffic lights which do not have the technology to work as four-way traffic lights.
"Unfortunately, some motorists have shown their impatience by continuing to travel through the lights after they have changed to a red signal, putting themselves and others in danger.
"This has the added effect of triggering a safety mechanism with the lights that switches all four signals to red which creates further delays and frustration to drivers."
Councillor Jones said that suggestions from some people that the council should close off the roads which join the A464, Upton Lane and the lane linking Stanton Road with the A464, would just force more traffic through Shifnal. He said: "One suggestion is why don't we close off the crossroads but that would force more traffic through the town and past the school."
Councillor Stuart West, who represents Shifnal south and Cosford, has welcomed the plans for a new junction.
He said: "I am extremely pleased that at last we have a scheme which should reduce accidents at this dangerous crossroads, something I have been trying to resolve for years.
"This hi-tech traffic light system will give priority to traffic on the A464 , which will eliminate the hold- ups which have been experienced with the temporary lights."
After the crash in March, resident Tony Honicke, who lives on the A464 Upton crossroads, near Shifnal, said: "We've been here just about four years now and there must have been six or eight crashes.
"They are getting worse and worse.
"They come out of Shifnal, heading towards Wolverhampton, there's a bend and a massive straight. They go flying up there."
Mr Honicke said he had been first on the scene when the crash had happened in March and it had then taken an hour for the fire crews to free the man from the car.
"It was horrible," Mr Honicke said.
"Cars have crashed into the barn before and we've had one upside down on the junction. Apparently there were two fatalities 15 or 20 years ago.
"I know it must be a pain for people to see lights there but they should understand why they are there. If you imagine not knowing whether a car is going to come through your wall, it's scary."
In 2013, a blue Volkswagen Golf careered into a barn on the junction, sparking fears the building could collapse and prompting police to close the road. People in the two cars suffered minor injuries.
