National Highways reveals £13m safety upgrades
Following on from its progress with the A417 Missing Link[1], National Highways is set to improve safety across the South West with GBP13m of investment into a range of priority schemes. The work will begin with upgrades to accident hotspots in Wiltshire and Devon, with the A36 and Junction 29 of the M5 near Exeter being the prime focus. A spokesperson said: "Starting this month, the government-owned company will begin targeted safety enhancements on the A36 at Codford St Peter, which has seen a number of serious collisions.
One cause of these recorded collisions is the inappropriate overtaking of A36 vehicles turning left into Codford (by southbound A36 vehicles), due to the short and narrow left turn lane on the A36."
To improve safety on this section of road, National Highways will build a new, dedicated left turn lane for eastbound vehicles exiting the A36 into Codford St Peter, while also upgrading drainage and pedestrian crossings in the area. Renewed road markings and clearer signage on the the A36 between High Street and Sherrington Lane will also follow, as well as vegetation works to enhance the condition and biodiversity of nearby woodland. This work begins on Monday 20 April and is expected to take seven weeks, with four-way temporary traffic lights, weekend closures, weeknight closures, and junction closures planned.
Meanwhile near Exeter, the A30 around the M5 junction 29 will see seven new yellow box junctions on both the eastbound and westbound carriageways. "Over the past five years, there have been 13 reported collisions on the A30 around junction 29, between the northbound off-slip road and the Science Park junction," the agency said. "More than three-quarters of these related to vehicles failing to comply with red traffic signals.
The box junctions aim to help prevent vehicles causing an obstruction by queuing across the junction during busy periods, enabling the free-flow of traffic. The boxes will be enforced by police from a camera van bay that will also be installed." Jack Mason, South West Road Safety Manager, added: "Road safety is, and will always be, our number one priority; that is why our ambition remains that no-one should be harmed while travelling or working on our roads."
He added: "The enhancements we are introducing on the A36 and A30 are targeted works and just the beginning of improvements this year... Our roads are a vital part of everyone's lives, and we'll never stop exploring ways to improve on safety and reliability."
The agency said the work for this year features alongside several larger schemes for the South West, not least the A417 Missing link scheme and "smaller yet important targeted interventions tackling issues such as wrong way driving at our junctions". Mr Mason added: "Along with our targeted safety work, as part of the Government's Third Road Investment, we will be working hard to maintain all of our roads and ensure they are kept in a safe and reliable condition."
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For more information on National Highways' safety schemes in the South West, visit https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-west
References
- ^ A417 Missing Link (www.punchline-gloucester.com)