Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Slow down campaign
Users of a “dangerous” road linking Gartness, Moffat Mills and Chapelhall are campaigning for its speed limit to be halved and new safety measures to be put in place.
Local residents have collected 500 petition signatures calling for a new limit of 30 miles per hour to be imposed on
Bowhousebrae and Burniebrae Road to slow down drivers on the bendy and hilly route.
They have also highlighted the issue of hazardous overtaking, especially of farm vehicles and buses, and say the lack of lighting and of any pavement on either side is a huge danger to any pedestrians attempting to tackle the road.
Roads officials have now said they will carry out a traffic survey on the route, while the local campaigners have gained the cross-party support of Airdrie South councillors Sandy Watson and Michael Coyle.
Gartness resident Betty Murray and Jean Peock, whose relatives run Bowhouse Farm, started the petition in response to a number of near misses and increasing concern about the busy road from its users.
They have submitted it to North Lanarkshire Council and made their case at the latest Airdrie local area partnership meeting, where they say they have gained popular support for their plan.
Jean said: “Vehicles fly up and down this road; they really move and it makes it very dangerous – there were four crashes in two months at the start of the year.
“It has hill and S-bends, plus farms and concealed entrances along the road, and there are no lights or pavements but drivers come flying down.
“The council only have accident figures from where the police have been involved, but there are more than that and we want them to take action.
“We started the petition a few months ago, speaking to people in the Gartness estate, on the farms and in Chapelhall, as well as drivers who use the road – and everyone has agreed with us about having the limit reduced to 30.”
Betty added: “We had people sticking up for us at the local area
partnership meeting who we don’t even know, like a taxi driver who uses the road every day taking kids to school.
“There are 85 houses in Gartness and lots of children up there, plus lots of individual houses and farms all the way along it; the road is a risk because it’s narrow and so the traffic is so fast, and anyone who has to walk on it is taking their life in their hands, especially in the dark.
“I can see part of the road and the bends from my house and can see the speed and volume of traffic; anybody from Clarkston or Moffat
Mills would know how busy it is, and there are now so many new houses all over the area which adds to it.
“We don’t know how nobody’s been killed on this road. We want to see the speed limit reduced to 30mph to stop accidents and something which makes drivers stop at the narrow bridge, like signs meaning they have to give priority to oncoming traffic.
“Other villages like Brownsburn and Calderbank have lower speed limits and we need the speed to be cut here too; there’s been a lot of reaction to the petition. Hundreds have signed and the council need to sit up and take notice.”
Dozens of residents from
Gartness, Chapelhall and nearby
Calderbank highlighted concerns about the road as they pointed out its hills and bends, visibility issues and a narrow bridge which proves a pinch point for traffic.
They spoke of its high speeds and overtaking and told of incidents such as a farm tractor ending up down a banking after attempting to turn onto the road and meeting an approaching car travelling wide in the middle of the carriageway; and how recycling collections have now been replaced with a single refuse collection which can make use of a side-loading lorry for safety reasons. Both Conservative councillor
Watson and SNP counterpart
Coyle have teamed up to support the residents and are backing their call for the speed limit to be halved.
Councillor Watson told the
Advertiser: “The turnout from residents to highlight this indicates the level of worry; it’s wrong for there to be such a high speed on this road.
“There’s a lot of traffic on it and instead of keeping the limit at 60mph, this is an opportunity to look at reviewing it.”
Ward colleague Councillor Coyle added: “It’s a tragedy waiting to happen; we need to make sure that people recognise how serious it is on this road – it’s dangerous, and other villages have the speed restrictions that this road needs.
“The council have this idea that reducing the speed limit would be based on the number of accidents, but they should also be anticipating problems and taking action.” A North Lanarkshire
Council spokesperson said: “The council targets its resources at areas of greatest need by reviewing
Police Scotland’s road injury accident information.
“Burniebrae Road and Bowhousebrae
Road are not locations where we would currently target further investment.
“We have, h o w e v e r, agreed to carry out a traffic survey in the area, and we will report the outcomes to the community when this is complete.”