Government urgently lobbied to improve safety on deadly stretch of A46

14/12/2023

Ministers in Whitehall are coming under increasing pressure to urgently improve safety on the A46 in Warwickshire [1] after a spate of serious crashes. The A46 between the A422, for Stratford, and the A435, for Alcester, has long been an accident hotspot. But calls to make the Stratford Stretch, as it has been referred to, safer for road users have grown louder [2] since a 20-year-old man died in a crash there on October 13.

Another crash, which left five people seriously injured [3], happened on that same section just 24 hours later. Phillip Seccombe, head of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, said reducing fatalities and serious incidents on the Stratford Stretch was his ‘number one priority’. Mr Seccombe, who also serves as the Police and Crime Commissioner for Warwickshire, says he is now taking the matter to Westminster.

“We can try to get the A46 higher on the government’s agenda,” he told CoventryLive. “With HS2 north being cancelled, there could be money available for strategic road working schemes, like this. “I’ve spoken to a minister at the Department for Transport. We’re currently drawing up a package of information, with collision data, to explain how important this.

There’s a petition in the south of the county to bring the A46 to everybody’s attention, including government.” Mr Seccombe said the accidents in October were still being investigated to ensure lessons can be learned. The Partnership set a target before the pandemic to half the number of fatalities and serious injuries on the Stratford Stretch by 2030.

Phillip Seccombe, head of the Warwickshire Road Safety Partnership, says urgent action is needed to cut major accidents on the A46

“There are various things we can do to bring that about,” he said. “I’m encouraging the police force to carry out enforcement processes to patrol and enforce the highway code to stop people speeding and all those things that can lead to collisions.”

Fixed speed cameras have been discussed as a possible step to improve road safety. But because the A46 is a major arterial road it is controlled by Government-owned company National Highways, rather than the local authority, meaning that any such measures would need to be sanctioned in Westminster. “We have a member of National Highways on our partnership,” Mr Seccombe said. “We’ve raised this matter in the past.

National Highways are reviewing their responsibility around speed camera enforcement on the A46 and other roads.”

A plan of action is in place to cut serious accidents on a section of the A46 in Warwickshire (file picture) (Image: Warks Police)

He said better education of not just drivers, but all road users – motorcyclists, pedestrians, horse riders included – would also help to cut the number of severe accidents. “They all need to understand safety is a responsibility on all of us,” he said. “How many fatalities and serious collisions has there been over the last ten years? That’s the data we’re collecting to send to the DfT.

We need to make people sit up and say ‘we need to do something about this’. “It’s their decision. We’re trying to bring the situation we’ve got to a national level and explain to them ‘this is not acceptable’.

References

^ Warwickshire (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ have grown louder (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ which left five people seriously injured (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ New traffic restrictions and cycle path planned in Coventry city centre as VLR track takes step forward (www.coventrytelegraph.net)
^ here (data.reachplc.com)