Road Safety on the Coast Road

Road Safety on the Coast Road was a key topic of discussion at last nights Southport Area Committee - you can see the report here.

There have been 11 fatalities on this stretch of road over the last 10 years in addition to a large number of other road accidents - usually shunts.  For those of you not familiar with Southport, this road runs from the end of the "sea front" to Woodvale and is used by most people as a by-pass around Southport - you can see the satellite picture of the road here  Admittedly, from the map, the road looks like a nice pretty straight route but the road cuts through the sand dunes that make up part of  the Birkdale and Ainsdale Sandhills Nature Reserve.  This effectively means there is no where to go if motorist get into difficulty and although it looks straight there are some deceptive bends which make judging distances difficult.

The report put forward a number of proposals but I, for one, think we need to go further. During the debatet a number additional ideas were suggested including a reduction of the speed limit for the whole length of the road.  Now don't get me wrong, I am not pro-speed however I believe that simply reducing the speed limit from 50mph to 40mph here will not solve the problem and may in fact make the problem worse .  One of the contributory factors in most accidents has been inappropriate overtaking something which I believe is likely to increase if you get motorist travelling at 40 or even 30 miles and hour.  It makes sense then to couple any reduction in speed with measures to prevent overtaking either for the whole length of the road or for specific sections of the road.  A point I made during the debate last night and one which was supported by Police Inspector Fairbrother.

A further report including this suggestion is set to be debated at the Southport Area Committee meeting in July .

An Accident waiting to happen

Uploading my latest stories to the blog whilst travelling very quickly to London on the Virgin West Coast.  Have to admit I have upgraded to first class (paid for by myself) because not only are the seats more comfortable, you can have free WIFI which allows me to do my emails, blog and work.  I know working on a Saturday at 9 am is rather keen and going to London with 40 days to the General Election is nutty but I have been summoned for a key meeting with the head Lib Dem party honchos.

 Anyway the latest story (accompanied by a particularly unflattering picture) details some serious concerns I have regarding road safety at the junction of Marshside Road and Marine Drive.  Because of the lack of lighting here, this is always a rather dangerous junction but my fears have been increased since sections of the fence of the former Sandwining Car Park have been damaged creating a gap.  This gap in the fence is allowing motorists to leave the car park over the raised pavement directly on to this very busy junction which is total madness.

I have raised the issue with the Highways Team and stressed the urgency.

Taking action to make Fylde Road safer.

Residents of Fylde Road have welcomed the news that a sign warning drivers of their speed will be installed on this busy road. This follows action by local councillor Sue McGuire.

As Sue explains; "Speeding traffic has been a problem here for many years and even though there have been two serious accidents involving pedestrians the council say it does not meet the necessary criteria for them to take action so I decided to take action myself. I looked at other options to make the road safer and I believe that this sign will make a difference although I will still be pushing for a fully operational toucan crossing.