Residents believe urgent action is required as it is ‘only a matter of time’ before someone is killed by a speeding driver on a Stapleford street.
More than 50 locals met councillors to discuss the “serious concerns” they have over motorists racing up and down Brookhill Street. The meeting came after Nottinghamshire Police2 revealed that officers had been called to five crashes in the 30mph residential road in the past year, with incidents ranging from a wing mirror being knocked off to a drink-driver destroying a number of vehicles. An email from Sandra Hart whose mother, Peggy Hulland, 87, died after she was struck by a Fiat Panda3 in the street three years ago was read out by Stapleford town councillor Ray Darby.
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It said: “My mother lived in the road for 60 years. She was hit by a car and suffered such horrendous injuries that, despite six teams working to save her life, her life support was switched off on December 24, 2013.
“It is only a matter of time before some sort of tragedy happens again. We cannot sit back and do nothing until the next death.”
The meeting, which took place this evening at the Carnegie Hall, was organised by independent councillor for Stapleford Richard MacRae.
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He said: “Residents who live here should have a say in what happens when it comes to trying to calm traffic in the street.
“They are all concerned about lots of different issues and they have come up with a lot of ideas. I don’t know the solution but hopefully this meeting will bring one.”
Read more: Petition launched to improve safety in Stapleford after road smash5
A few months ago, Mr MacRae and the Stapleford Community Group launched a petition calling for traffic6-calming measures in Brookhill Street. Their petition has since received almost 400 signatures and was handed to Nottinghamshire County Council at the meeting. It will be discussed by the council on September 15 before being passed to the highways committee.
Resident Linda Roy has lived in the street since 1988 and said the problem had got “worse and worse” over the years with drivers using the street as a “rat run” to avoid speed bumps on nearby Derby Road. The 65-year-old added: “Cars just seem to fly around the corner. You cannot open your car doors because they are coming up the street so fast.
“There are children and disabled people living on the street and these drivers are just taking their lives into their own hands.”
Dave Walker, a highways officer with the county council, has drawn up a plan in an attempt to address the residents’ concerns.
The council will be installing “it is 30 for a reason” signs over the next couple of weeks to encourage motorists to watch their speed. It will also be carrying out a survey to measure speed and traffic volume, over the coming months.
Mr Walker said: “A comprehensive speed survey was carried out in 2010 which showed an average speed of 21mph westbound and 22mph eastbound.
Read more: Controversial parking charges come into force at Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment7
“It is accepted that traffic patterns do change and, as the survey was over six years ago, I will arrange for a new survey to be undertaken with input from residents.”
Residents were also encouraged to set up a voluntary community speed watch, which 17 locals said they would be interested in. Mr Walker said: “I will tell you from experience these work and they are popular. We get a lot of positive feedback from these.
I would love to see one and we have money that we could spend on the equipment.”
References
- ^ Comments (0) (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Police (nottinghampost.com)
- ^ whose mother, Peggy Hulland, 87, died after she was struck by a Fiat Panda (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Stapleford (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Petition launched to improve safety in Stapleford after road smash (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ traffic (www.nottinghampost.com)
- ^ Controversial parking charges come into force at Nottingham’s Victoria Embankment (www.nottinghampost.com)