MP’s road safety fears
Call for traffic calming measures
Margaret Ferrier MP has called on South Lanarkshire Council to bring in traffic calming measures on Greenlees Road before someone is killed.
The Rutherglen and Ham Hamilton West MP was speaking as it emerged council chiefs admitted that one in six drivers were travelling well above the speed limit to a resident five years ago.
Documents obtained by the Reformer from 2010 suggest 15 per cent of driver travelling down the road were doing at least 41mph.
The information has come to light just two weeks after a collision on the road saw one car crash through a bus stop and wall after being flipped onto its roof.
The figures were handed over by one local who asked the council to take action before the opening of the M74 extension in 2011.
After a lengthy discourse, he was told by Colin Park, who was engineering
manager of roads at the time, that the council measure speeds in terms of the “85th percentile” or the speed 85 per cent of drivers don’t exceed.
The letter states this was 41mph for cars heading north and 37mph for cars heading south.
Mr Parks goes on to say that accident “clusters” need to be identified in order for road safety improvements to be “justified.”
He says that there were six accidents recorded between 2007 and 2010, but adds: “None of the accidents occurred in clusters at any one specific location and none of them are speed related and this level of accidents is considered typical for an urban classified road exceeding two kilometres in length.”
Even though the data is five years old, the concerned resident, who does not wish to be named, reckons it remains relevant: “What this doesn’t tell you is how many vehicles are breaking the speed limit – maybe you’d need to take the percentile down to 60 to get the cars who are exceeding 30mph and that means around 40 per cent of cars are breaking the limit.
“That would indicate the limit is no barrier and something needs to be put in place to slow people down.
“Forty-one mph does not make any sense when the speed limit is 30mph. I wanted to know the figure exceeding 30mph through and FoI but they started asking for payment, so I stopped.
“I actually think it will have got a bit worse since then as traffic has decreased on the road. When it was busier people were forced to slow down, but since the M74 opened it’s been quieter.”
Ms Ferrier said this week: “The problem with speeding on Greenlees Road is one that needs to be taken seriously. This is a busy thoroughfare, not to mention a residential area, and road safety should be paramount. The damage caused by an accident in recent weeks was severe, and I am amazed, but thankful, that nobody was injured or killed.
“I hope to see the council and police take the matter seriously, and put measures in place to make this road safer. I’ll also be interested to see if South Lanarkshire Council review the proposed safe walking route for school children from Halfway and Drumsagard in light of the most recent accident on this dangerous stretch of road.”
Head of Roads and Transportation Gordon Mackay said: “Following the recent incident on Greenlees Road, an assessment of the accident records maintained by Police Scotland for the junction of Greenlees Road and Brownside Road/Vicarland Road has been undertaken; this found there had been three accidents, all resulting in slight injury, within the three-year period up to the end of May 2015.
“Investigation of the accident details and collision factors established that there were no common factors linking these accidents. As such, the introduction of road safety engineering measures at this location cannot be justified at this time.
“With respect to the most recent accident, I can advise that we have carried out initial liaison with the Police in order to establish the circumstances in which the accident occurred. Once details of this accident are confirmed, we will give consideration to what action can be taken to address any issues identified.
“Notwithstanding the above, it is accepted that some motorists will choose to drive in an inappropriate manner for the conditions. Concerns in relation to vehicle speeds should be directed to contact Police Scotland using their 101 telephone helpline number for nonemergency enquiries or by completing the Police Scotland enquiry form that is available on their website, www. scotland.police.uk.”
No-one was hurt in the latest incident, which took place on July 17, but one person has been charged with careless driving.