Roundabout plea made for dangerous junction

A WOMAN whose porch and garden wall have twice been destroyed by out of control drivers has called for measures to tackle speeding along her road.

Anne Bond has had to suffer cars smashing into the front of her Bilton Road home - first in 2008 and again in 2012, causing around £4,000 of damage in total.

She said the current 30mph speed limit along the street was often broken, sometimes resulting in cars losing control and crashing into fences and people's houses.

Only last month she saw a car leave the road and crash through a fence directly opposite where she lives.

In response she and her neighbours are calling for a mini roundabout to be put in on Bilton Road at the junction with Church Walk so that traffic is forced to slow down. They believe this would make the road safer.

Mrs Bond said: "Speed limits don’t seem to work, it’s 30mph here but I’d bet every crashed driver has been going much faster.

"I just think a flat, cheap to do painted mini roundabout at the junction of Church Walk and Bilton Road would slow traffic down.

"Over the last five years there have been at least seven crashes where drivers heading away from the town centre have lost control of their vehicles and hit kerbs and fences.

"Our porch and front garden wall have been demolished twice. It is a miracle that - so far - no one has been hurt or killed as this is a busy road with lots of pedestrians, runners and cyclists.

"The county council highways department tells me it is a higher priority to work on areas where someone has already been hurt, which I do understand. However, surely prevention is better than cure."

Jo Edwards from the county council's road safety unit, said the accident record shows there have been two people hurt at the junction in the last three years - not enough to warrant a mini roundabout.

"Although I agree prevention is better than cure, with a limited budget this is simply not possible I'm afraid," she added.

"The county council has numerous locations where there have been at least six injury accidents within the same three year period, and it is essential these locations are given priority.

"The A4071 as a whole route has recently benefited from engineering intervention, which included the junction of Bilton Road and Church Walk. This involved enhanced signing for the bends within the vicinity of the junction."

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