Call made for safety improvements at 'dangerous' Ludlow roundabout

Lack of lighting, signage and faded road markings are among the problems at the mini-roundabout on Foldgate Lane in Ludlow which need to be addressed as "a matter of urgency", according to Councillor Vivienne Parry.

She said: "This roundabout near 'Pets are Us' and the 'Squirrel' on Foldgate Lane has been in for some time now and there are still no signs to warn motorists or indicate who has right of way.

"The road markings are also worn. As a result, I've had a number of complaints about near misses at this roundabout.

"I know of one visiting motorist who told me he drove over it not realising that there was a roundabout there."

'Whole area much darker'

"Also the street lights covering this area have progressively ceased to function over the last few years making the whole area much darker after sunset.

"Given the number of pedestrians passing between the petrol station, pub, shops and nursing home this is making the whole area quite dangerous as the days start getting shorter.

"The light near the pedestrian crossing on Sheet Road near the junction with Foldgate Road has also failed.

"I have been pressing for some time to get these problems sorted and I have been promised that the lights will be repaired in the near future.

"However, Shropshire Council does need to get the signage and road markings issue sorted as a matter of urgency.

"They clearly need to identify the junction as a mini roundabout and state who has right of way."

Steve Smith, Shropshire Council’s assistant director of infrastructure, said: “The council is aware of the issue with the road markings at this roundabout, and raised an order with the contractor for their refresh when the issue was flagged to the team.

"In the summer, however, the Government made over £12m available to Shropshire as part of its approach to tackle the national problem for potholes, with a short window of opportunity to spend the money.

“The council used this funding to resurface 276km of highway across the county (equivalent of resurfacing the route from Shrewsbury to London). Road marking crews, therefore, were temporarily diverted from sites of a lower safety risk to these sites where no road markings existed at all as a result of the resurfacing.

“The crews are now catching up with the backlog of roadmarking refreshing, and will be visiting the roundabout at Foldgate Lane soon.

“The signing and lighting at the site meets national standards, but the council are reviewing the situation to see whether additional work is required, and will of course under take maintenance as and when necessary.”