£2m bid to save lives at accident blackspot
NEW cameras and extra safety measures are to be installed as part of a £2.49m scheme to save lives at an accident blackspots.
The improvements, on a section of the A537 Buxton Road ‘Cat & Fiddle’ between its junction with the Silk Road in Macclesfield and the Cheshire East boundary with Derbyshire, are being fully funded by the Department for Transport (DfT).
Chris Hindle, Cheshire East Council’s head of infrastructure, told the highways and transport committee that the scheme was essentially to replace the existing cameras
These are 10 years old and were described as very successful in reducing the casualty numbers.
Mr Hindle said: “The upgraded technology will allow the system to operate at night and in poor visibility conditions.
“Plus some engineering measures, safety treatment, safety barrier replacement and new safety barriers to address the causes of the incidents we’ve experienced in that location.”
Councillor Don Stockton said: “I know you can’t come to a figure on how much it costs to save a life, so if this 2.49m saves one life then we would say that was worth it.
“However there has be a thought process in there and there has to be balances, because you could spend that money on any number of things that might save lives.
“You’ve assured us all this will save lives, but I just wondered what that balance was and, in terms of return on the investment, what is that return?
“Is that return in lives saved potentially or is that return in what it might gather in the fines that might be dished out?
“I’m just looking at the balance of where you could have spent the money rather than where it has been spent, and whether it will save the most lives where it’s been spent.”
Mr Hindle replied a full business case was submitted to the DfT to justify the investment and ‘all the benefits from this scheme are translated into pound notes and that is used by the DfT to assess the return on their investment’.
Coun Mike Hunter said: “This is a bit of a nobrainer isn’t it? This is absolutely one of the worst roads in our area, not just for the people that live in and around Sutton and Macclesfield but also for the great amount of visitors that use that road as tourists.
“We know that the camera system that’s in there now has saved a great deal of lives but it is outdated, it is coming to the end of its life, it does need replacing.
“I don’t want to see people getting fined, I want to see people reducing speed and driving more carefully.”
The committee unanimously agreed the recommendations to approve the scheme.