FEARS OVER ROUNDABOUT SAFETY
AJAGUAR has mounted the Runcorn Station Quarter’s flagship roundabout, prompting fears over the junction’s safety.
Runcorn dad Ian Harrison was passing when he spotted the car, which he said was embedded in mud at around 11am on Monday.
He said had the car been six feet to the side, it would have hit the road sign and the motorist would have been hospitalised or worse.
The Station Quarter roundabout opened on Friday, August 28, after an 18-month road closure between the Bridgewater and Weston Point expressways that was intended to take advantage of the Silver Jubilee Bridge being shut to demolish a fly-over and kickstart the start of a critical phase in the area’s revival.
Mr Harrison said he thinks the roundabout might have been opened prematurely and doesn’t believe it’s safe, and said it is on ‘three or four different levels’ and drops suddenly from a 60mph zone to 30mph on the approach from Weston Point Expressway.
He added that the give way sign by the roundabout for traffic coming from the M56 isn’t visible until late, with vehicles having to crest the brow of the approach road before they see it.
And although no-one was hurt in Monday’s collision, Mr Harrison now fears serious accidents are likely.
He said: “A car’s gone right over the roundabout.
“The road level is an absolute joke, and an accident waiting to happen. At the end of the year, someone’s going to be killed.
“Workmen are still working on it, workmen are messing about with signs.
“I’ve never known a roundabout so uneven. You go round and it’s like you see on the waltzers.” In a statement issued on
Monday, a Cheshire police spokeswoman said: “Officers were called just before 11am following reports of a red Jaguar colliding with a roundabout on the Weston Point Expressway.
“Police attended the scene swiftly. No injuries were reported.” A spokesman for Halton
Borough Council, which has overseen the roundabout’s construction, said: “The scheme meets the relevant design standards, has had a road safety assessment undertaken, and is appropriately signed.
“There are ‘new layout ahead’ warning signs in place.
“The incident is a reminder for all road users they should that drivers drive with due care and attention at all times, especially on roads they do not know, and stay within the speed limits, which are there for the safety of all road users.
“There is a ‘new roundabout ahead’ sign on the approach and deflection signs on the central island.”