Residents and ward councillors urgently want the council to put in place traffic safety measures at a ‘dangerous’ Scunthorpe borough junction.
In the last two weeks in September, there were two road traffic collisions at the junction of Bransdale Road and Grange Lane South. The most recent, on Friday, September 27, saw a family car hit a sign and the garden wall of the first Bransdale Road home.
Residents reported no-one was injured. Cllr Max Bell has said he has raised the junction safety issue with the council for a year now and “action is overdue”.
A North Lincolnshire Council spokesperson has said it is “actively looking at solutions” and intends to consult residents. Eric Maw lives in the Bransdale Road home whose garden wall was obliterated. He said there had been two collisions in two weeks and three in the two years since he lived there.
“Somebody’s going to get killed, and I don’t want it to be me.” He described the shock of the first collision since living there. Sitting across from his window that faces the junction, he recalled before seeing the car: “All I saw, the top stones moving across the wall.”
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
Paul Anderson lives in Grange Lane South. He said he raised the issue three or so years ago, calling Joanne Saunby, a then-ward councillor, and the council leader, Cllr Rob Waltham. They visited, and it was decided to paint road markings to deter, though this had not occurred since.
“Some of that rock there went on the roof of his house,” he said of Mr Maw and the latest collision. “I have told the council, I’ve been in touch numerous times,” but nothing had changed. He wanted a number of barriers either side of the junction.
“This is a really busy road,” said Cllr Bell. “We get a huge amount of vans, lorries, car traffic here. The way in which the junction bends round at 45 degrees, frankly, it’s a death trap.
“Myself and my ward colleague Cllr Judith Matthews, we’ve been pressuring the council for more than a year on this issue, but we keep getting delays and evasive non-responses. The residents are tired, we’re tired, action is overdue.”
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
Cllr Matthews has stated: “Residents are desperate for improvements to this road, which the council’s own data show is one of North Lincolnshire’s most dangerous.” She urged the council to engage with her and Cllr Bell “to bring out a positive change.”
“We desperately need traffic calming measures,” said Cllr Bell, “particularly the junction coming towards Queensway. What I would like to see personally is a traffic island in the middle of the road, which would encourage the car lorry traffic to slow down.” It would make it safer for pedestrians to cross, he added.
Cllr Bell also raised the need for a sign discouraging drivers from turning right from Grange Lane South. “Some drivers either ignore the rules, or just don’t know.”
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
A North Lincolnshire Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of the issues around Bransdale Road and Grange Lane South and are actively looking at solutions. We intend to consult with residents and hope to have a scheme in place within the coming months.
“If traffic signs are missing then please report them to us on the road and path maintenance page of our website so we can replace them.” According to Crashmap.co.uk, there were four collisions near or at the junction between 2017 and 2022.
“My garden’s a mess,” said Mr Maw, surveying rubble piles and torn up bits of lawn, three days after the crash. The wall was broken by the first crash since he moved there, too. He claimed it had taken ONGO, who owned his home, a year to replace, and he and a neighbour tidied up the rubble. Mr Maw was concerned about a similar delay.
(Image: Donna Clifford/GrimsbyLive)
He also reported a crash around Christmas 2021 before he moved in that resulted in a shed’s destruction behind the property. This had not been replaced since.
An ONGO spokesperson said: “In July and September of this year we received a report from Mr Maw that a car had crashed into the garden wall. On both occasions, we attended to inspect the property and remove the bricks and rubble.
“We instructed a bricklayer to attend the property on 3 October to rebuild the wall in question.
“In January 2022, an agreement was made that the sheds at both Mr Maws and a neighbouring property would be taken down and not replaced, following structural damage. The customer was informed at the time and there were no objections.”
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Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
