Spalding junction danger is a 'life and death matter', says concerned councillor

Urgent calls have been made to improve a junction following a crash which saw a pedestrian taken to hospital.

Two crewed ambulances attended an incident at the junction of London Road and Vine Street on Wednesday - with the woman’s injuries described as ‘not life threatening’

There are hopes that this could serve as a wake up call and prompt improvements - maybe even with a proper crossing.

District and county councillor Gary Taylor says this is a ‘life and death matter’ - and is calling for highways bosses to act on it as a priority.

“I was so sorry to hear about the accident,” he said.

“It is a busy junction and we do need to look at this site seriously.

“I think something needs to happen as a priority - be it signage or a crossing - as it’s a major crossing on a busy road which needs to be made as safe as possible.

“It’s a life and death matter. I will take this up with the officers at county council highways straight away.”

Coun Taylor says there are other areas of the town which also need similar treatment.

He said: “On the corner near Longstaff and Kwik Fit (Swan Street), cars whizz round at speed and people have to run across the road to miss them.

“Some of the people crossing are elderly or people with prams - it’s really dangerous.

“Another which stands out is the Albion Street corner with West Elloe Avenue at Twin Bridges where, again, pedestrians are met by cars racing round at speed.”

Concerns have also been raised over cyclists travelling the wrong direction along the one-way system in The Crescent.

Coun Taylor said: “We have a major problem with cyclists in this area.

“We try to promote it as an environmentally friendly method of transport but people make mistakes, they cycle down one way systems at speed and they wear dark clothing.

“It’s in the interests of their safety for them to stick to the rules. Some do but there are many who do not.”

A new ‘Public Access Working Group’ has recently been formed in order to tackle traffic issues in Spalding

District and county councillor Rob Gibson, who is heading up the group, says that getting a new crossing at London Road/Vine Street wouldn’t be quick - but is something which could be worked towards.

“We have lots of little danger spots but nothing seems to be done until someone is injured,” he said.

“Signage wouldn’t be a particularly long winded thing to do but a crossing does take quite a bit of time - it’s not a quick fix. This is definitely something we can look at and will be happy to work on.”

The group, which is a sub-group of Spalding Town Forum, was due to meet yesterday (Monday) for the first time.

Junction is a 'death trap'

A resident has echoed calls for changes to the ‘death trap’ crossing on London Road.

Ally Hall, who lives in the town, says she has narrowly avoided being run over in the same spot as last week’s collision.

She says the area needs to be reassessed as soon as possible.

“It’s an absolute death trap,” she said.

“It really is pot luck if you’re going to get hit or not when crossing there.

“The problem is that people don’t leave enough space on the yellow box, meaning you can’t see when you’re trying to get past and across the road.

“Haverfield Road is also a race track. There are times when I’m walking my dog around there that I see a speeding car and think ‘if they lose control, I’m dead’. It’s just a shame it’s taken a lady to be hit before something is done.”