Lincolnshire county councillor joins Beckingham residents in call for changes to make A17 safer between Sleaford and Newark

A group of worried residents are joining forces to call for changes to be made to make a stretch of the A17 safer.

A 39-year-old man died after his car was involved in a collision with a HGV on Friday (November 1), the latest in a number of collisions happening on the A road between the Beckingham and Leadenham turn-offs in recent weeks.

The previous incident saw a four-vehicle collision at the Stragglethorpe/Brant Broughton crossroads on September 26, with another on September 17 between Brant Broughton and Leadenham, and there was also an incident between two vehicles on A17 near Beckingham on August 14.

Now a group of residents in Beckingham are appealing to Lincolnshire County Council to change the speed limit, or bring in some new traffic calming measures, to make the stretch of road safer.

Gareth Canning said he has lived in the village for 18 months and has never experienced a road as dangerous as the A17. He tries to avoid using it and sticks to narrower and longer back roads instead.

“This is of course due to motorists but I’m sure there is an accident at least once a week between Newark and Sleaford,” he said, “It needs to have average speed cameras installed with a speed of 40 mph, I think there are sadly way too many deaths on this road.”

Residents in Beckingham have called for the stretch of road on the A17 near the village to be lowered to 40mph, as they are near Newark Golf Club to make it safer to enter and exit the village.

Sharon Blackburn has also called for a 40mph limit near the Brant Broughton crossroads:

“Speed cameras are a pain but they need to be there,” she said, “Surely they have enough accidents to prove that something needs doing.”

Stephanie Cartwright also agreed that the Brant Broughton and Leadenham junctions are the most dangerous as drivers try to use the junctions unsafely:

“I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen people taking chances diving across in front of lorries and fast moving traffic to turn into the village.”

Another resident, Andrew Swindells, also suggested double white lines and the sped limit being reduced to 50mph to help driver safety.

A spokesman for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council said that anyone with concerns over road safety should go to their local county councillor, who will then bring the issue to the council for assessment and scrutiny.

County councillor Marianne Overton, ward member for Bassingham and Welbourn which covers Beckingham, said that she had brought the issue of safety on the A17 before the council in the past, and has now approached Richard Fenwick at Highways to do so again:

“I’ve had a number of complaints over several years about the A17, and trying to cross over safely [at the Leadenham turn-off] is difficult,” she said, “Coming down the hill towards Leadenham people do speed and we need something doing about it.”

Mrs Overton has now approached the county council regarding changes to the A17, with the suggestion of introducing a waiting lane for right turns, and to reduce the speed limit to 50mph and to enforce with average speed cameras.

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