Concerned residents living along a road in Highbridge have this week demanded ‘urgent measures’ to cut the speed of motorists and avoid an ‘accident waiting to happen’.
Several residents have called on the Town Council to consider new measures such as a new 20mph speed zone or extra speed bumps, to address the problem.
Worston Road resident John Parkes explained: “The road is used daily by senior citizens, parents with children, dog walkers and young people, who are sometimes forced onto our frontage – and others – in order to avoid being hit by speeding, passing vehicles. Sadly, it really is an accident waiting to happen.”
“On several occasions we have witnessed speeding vehicles along Worston Road, which is often used as a shortcut to access the A38 via Pople’s Bow, particularly during morning and evening peak hours.”
John, right, added: “We are requesting that the council seeks to address this issue as a matter of urgency and have already sought advice and support from our local councillors, Chris Williams and Helen Groves, in addition to notifying our county councillor John Woodman to see what action can be taken to minimise the danger.”
Cllr Chris Williams said: “There is a problem with intermittent speeding on Worston Road and there always has been. I don’t think it has worsened recently but that doesn’t make it OK.”
Among the possible solutions being considered to address the problem are adding painted ‘slow’ signs along the road in both directions, installing more speed bumps, blocking off Pople’s Bow completely and making it a cycle and pedestrian lane only, and also introducing a new 20mph speed zone.
Town councillors debated the matter this week and voted in favour of requesting a Speed Indicator Device for the road initially to gather data about the speed of passing traffic before considering what further action should be taken.
Cllr Ken Smout said: “We need hard evidence first about the scale of the problem before we can ask for money to be spent on changes.”
