Reputation of A259 trunk road is worsening

While Wednesday and Thursday’s crashes were both along the Little Common Road section, and not where Cllr Martin Kenward is petitioning the Highways Agency to make signage clearer, it can be argued the A259’s reputation as an accident blackspot is just getting worse.

Year on year the volume of traffic along the trunk road increases, putting what would amount to a country lane in other parts of the country under ever-increasing pressure.

The Highways Agency says the A259 has a high record of drivers keeping to the speed limit - but that’s no comfort to anybody involved in an accident, especially if someone is killed. In August, a pedestrian was killed in an accident near Glyne Ascent.

Reminders in the form of signage telling drivers to slow down can’t hurt, especially for visiting motorists who won’t know the road as well as local people.

Considering the much higher costs of more concrete road improvements, are Kill Your Speed signs really so much to be asking for?