Concerns over m-way crashes and impact of extra rail hub traffic
THERE WERE FIVE SMASHES EVERY FIVE DAYS ON AVERAGE IN YEAR
have revealed that over the past year there was a crash on the M69 every five days on average.
Hinckley councillor David Bill asked National Highways for the latest statistics about collisions to assess the likely impact of the additional traffic from the proposed Hinckley National Rail Freight Interchange.
The motorway starts at Junction 21 of the M1 and passes by Hinckley and the A5. The rail hub would be built at Junction 2 of the M69. The plans have been strongly opposed by district and parish councils in the area, with traffic being one of the major causes of concern.
The figures showed that there were 74 crashes on the M69 between February 2021 and January this year, including 14 incidents in May 2021 alone.
Coun Bill said: “It will be argued by the promoters of this unloved project [the rail hub] that the bulk of the 5,000 HGVs will enter and leave by the motorway.
“In other words 10,000 additional HGV movements on the network. This does not include the 8,000 people who we are told will be employed on the site and who will mostly arrive by car.
“On 74 occasions last year accidents occurred on either the northbound or southbound directions of the M69. The other major route involved is the A5 and we already know that bridge smashes occur on 26 occasions every year.
“The A5 south of Hinckley accounts for an unknown series of accidents which seem to continue with often tragic circumstances.
“By my rough calculations, it looks to me as if there are 100 incidents on the local network every year which invariably result in additional traffic crawling through Hinckley and Burbage, with all the impact that implies for those of us who live here.”
The low railway bridge over the A5, near Dodwells island, is regularly hit by tall vehicles during rushhour, closing the route and forcing traffic through Hinckley.
Coun Bill sent the statistics to Ann Carruthers, director of environment and transport at the county council, to ask if the council accepted the figures and if it had any views on the extra traffic from the rail hub.
She said: “We are currently workFIGURES ing with the applicant and their appointed transport consultants to understand the full impact of the proposed development on both the local and strategic road networks.
“Until we see the outputs from a revised modelling exercise in a few weeks’ time, it remains unclear what the true impact on the network is likely to be.
“We are working very closely with our colleagues at National Highways and Warwickshire County Council who have already raised concerns about impact on the strategic network, including the potential for additional bridge strikes at Nutts Lane.
“We will continue to work with the developer to understand the impact, and subsequent mitigation package required, and the information that you have provided is useful in that regard.”