New calls for road safety measures have been made by concerned residents living next to a busy roundabout in Higbridge after a weekend crash in which a car slammed into a garden wall.
Saturday night’s incident at Highbridge’s Asda roundabout on the A38 saw a driver lose control and end up damaging a wall, as pictured above. The driver escaped unhurt.
It is the latest in a growing number of crashes there that have prompted fresh calls for Somerset County Council to make safety improvements.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported here in 2017 that there were five crashes in five years surrounding the busy roundabout, as pictured below.
“Several residents are keen to see metal bollards installed on the pavements around the roundabout to prevent vehicles mounting the kerbs, colliding with walls, and possibly injuring a pedestrian,” one resident told Burnham-On-Sea.com. “Something needs to be done.”
Highbridge town councillor John Parkes told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This latest crash is another reminder about the dangers here. I have spoken with residents and raised their concerns with the County Council over several years but there has been little appetite from them to make any changes. I will continue to push for safety improvements.”
“Sadly, I think the problems may get worse before anything is done. With further housing proposed at Walrow, Brue Farm, Lakeside and Isleport Lane there will be more traffic passing through this point, adding to the danger. Does a fatality need to happen before the county council does something and spending money here?”
John added: “In the most recent correspondence on this matter that I received from Liam Gill, who is the county council’s Assistant Highways Service Manager, he wrote to me: ‘I have discussed the matter with our Traffic Engineer and he is of the same opinion as me, in that this roundabout junction is safe for use. All the appropriate signs and markings are in place. The barriers on the other side of the roundabout are pedestrian barriers as this is the intended pedestrian route for those wishing to cross the A38. This is also a wider footway. Therefore, no further action is planned at this location’.”
