‘IN THE LAST 20 YEARS, THE TRAFFIC HAS GOT BUSIER AND FASTER’
Speedwatch group is set to be launched
A COMMUNITY speed watch group is to be set up in part of Stoke-on-trent.
The move comes alongside money pledged by the city council’s Local Transport Plan to pay for measures which will improve road safety in Norton Green.
The group will be launched there with the option of bringing in volunteers in neighbouring Brown Edge further down the line.
Michelle Shaker, Community Speed Watch Coordinator for Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership (part of Staffordshire Police), spoke with volunteers who attended a meeting last week arranged by Stoke-on-trent city councillors Carl Edwards, Dave Evans and James Smith.
Locals called for a number of measures to be introduced along Ball Lane and Endon Road - including a Gatso speed camera and a pedestrian crossing.
The authorities said they needed to build up data - which the new speed group will be able to provide - in order to come up with an action plan for tacking the issue.
Mobile speed cameras which were parked up in the area during four visits in July recorded 45 instances of drivers speeding.
Officers logged 36 drivers travelling between 35-39mph, seven travelling between 40-44mph, and two travelling between 45-49mph on the 30mph stretch of road.
Charlotte Kay, 43, above, who lives on Endon Road, said: “I’ve lived here 20 years and traffic has got progressively busier and faster. Over the years we’ve seen a number of collisions and it’s become difficult to cross the road safely.” She said the esidents’ association has been working with councillors to come up with a solution. Charlotte added: “Getting money for the proposed scheme is the most progress we’ve seen in many years.”
Mrs Kay added that the effect would be twofold - firstly as a deterrent, as the volunteers wear hi-vis clothing and motorists slow down when they see them.
Secondly, the scheme will help build a case for traffic calming measures. Marine Mountford, 61, also lives on Endon Road and said the volume of traffic makes it difficult for pedestrians to access services safely.
She said: “If you have a child, and you walk, it’s impossible to cross. You have to run. “The fact that there’s an old people’s home with a bus stop across the road, and a play area on the other side of the street - it’s impossible to cross safely.
“There’s also no pavement in parts, so you don’t feel safe standing there.”
Councillor Dave Evans said that money had been made available as part of the Local Transport Plan.
He said the scheme will be designed in consultation with the local community, and help deal with the issues and perceptions relating to speeding in the area.
He added: “It’s about how you make it less attractive to use as a shortcut for people like HGVS on the volume of traffic issue.”
“We have to meet Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership’s assessment criteria, to demonstrate if we want to put things on Endon Road in terms of traffic calming. That’s why the data is really important.”
Training for the volunteers could begin in December.
In June of this year, Sharlotte-sky Naglis, 6, died when she was struck whilst walking on the pavement with her dad in Norton Green.
The St Anne’s Primary School pupil died instantly in the horrific incident. Police continue to investigate the circumstances of her death.