Gateway works may have played part in collisions
MERSEY Gateway bridge works may have been a factor in three car crashes in a Runcorn estate in July 2014.
The possibility that traffic diversions might have caused the collisions, in Beechwood, was raised in a Halton Borough Council report published following a petition with 82 signatures asking for a 20mph speed limit on Beechwood Avenue and a zebra crossing near Beechwood and Hillview primary schools.
The document’s author said there had been five collisions with injury in Beechwood in 2011-16.
Three of them happened in July 2014, leading the report’s author to conclude that they may have been connected to the start of bridge-related works at Junction 12 of the M56.
It is not the first time that the £1.86bn roads project has been linked to a traffic collision.
An inquest into the deaths of motorist Julie Darnell, 39, of St Helens, and trucker Anthony Bainbridge, 49, of Esh Winning, Durham, on the M56 near Runcorn at about noon on Thursday, October 9, 2014, heard that traffic had been backed up on the M56 due to junction 12 works.
However, another potential factor in the horror smash was that Mr Bainbridge had traces of the drugs speed and cannabis in his blood when his lorry ploughed into the rear of Mrs Darnell’s car, although toxicologists could not conclude whether it would have been enough to hinder his driving ability.
Witness testimony from the Mersey Gateway project said the scheme had complied with the relevant regulations for organising roadworks.
Town hall chiefs were poised last night to turn down the petition for a 20pmh speed limit on Beechwood Avenue and zebra crossing.
Residents had argued that estates including Brookvale, Murdishaw and Palacefields had 20mph limits.
A report published ahead of the meeting said a 20mph limit for Beechwood Avenue had been considered in 2015 and rejected due to objections.
It added that there have been school crossing patrols – lollipop people – near the schools already, although the role near Beechwood Primary is vacant at present.
The report said the ratio of pedestrians to vehicles is not high enough to meet Department For Transport criteria. Urban environment committee councillors had received a recommendation to tell petitioners that the proposed measures were ‘not justified’. ●