The local authority has decided that traffic lights will not be installed at a busy Isle of Wight road junction, 3 years after a fatal crash involving cars and a bus.
Councillor Phil Jordan, cabinet member for highways and infrastructure, said at a meeting on Tuesday night that although traffic lights won’t be installed, the local authority is eventually looking to acquire land around the junction of Forest Road, with Whitehouse Road and Betty Haunt Lane, to turn it into a staggered junction – something commonly seen on the mainland but less so here.
Forest Road is also included in the Isle of Wight Council’s speed review and there is a possibility its 50mph limit may be adjusted.
In January 2021, County Hall considered ways to improve road safety at the crossroads near Newport – but ruled out lights. That decision came under scrutiny last night (Tuesday), following the change of leadership in May 2021.
A 64-year-old Isle of Wight woman died, 3 family members were seriously injured and people on a double decker bus were also hurt, in the April 2019 collision.
In July 2020, the driver of a second car, Yaashmi Ravikumar (then aged 20), from Essex, was sent to a young offenders institute for 18 months, after admitting charges of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving. Her sentence was increased to 2 years and 4 months’ in a young offender’s institution in September 2020.
A petition calling for traffic lights at the junction which also joins Betty Haunt Lane gained nearly 7,000 signatures. Instead, the Isle of Wight Council opted to realign a hedge, more signs and to install other road safety measures, like an anti-skid road surface. Anti-skid work was completed in October 2021.
At Tuesday night’s corporate scrutiny committee meeting, Councillor Jordan said installing traffic lights would cost around £500,000 and said they were not always the best safety solution.
Concerns were raised about queuing at red lights in different levels of visibility and the meeting heard traffic lights can, in certain circumstances, increase the level of danger and the likelihood of rear-end shunts.
In November 2020, a report by roads contractor, Island Roads, looked at the feasability of different options for the junction, including traffic lights and a roundabout.
Forest Road is one of the busiest roads on the Island and is the main route from Newport to the West Wight. It is thought to be used by 10,000 vehicles a day and remains on the top 10 of the Isle of Wight Council’s highways safety intervention list.
Staggering won’t solve the problem, visibility of,. and speed of, traffic coming from the west is the main issue. Cutting back hedges would help but the rise in the road is a bigger problem
Most telling that the likely corrupt council spent a fortune on penny feathers roundabout ‘apparently’ for road safety according to them yet this known lethal area gets a token gesture makeover.
At least it proves that the council care more about keeping the developers happy more than keeping innocent motorists safe
Ask yourself why, the cynical would think developers can show their gratitude in more pleasing ways perhaps?
Well there you go – IWC have manged to do what nobody else could, or would – they have put a price on a human life. Apparently its £500,000 or above.
Right, must remember to print a copy of this report to keep with my insurance documents and then, when an innocent victim of an RTI at this junction, know who to claim against. You’ve got it, IWC.
The tragic accident was caused by dangerous driving, an idiot.
Granted, it’s not the nicest of junctions, but obey the rules and laws of driving, and it can be negotiated safely.
My point is, idiots will be idiots, how ever much you try and cotton wool the world, there will always be those insist on being a dumbass.
Perhaps you could install traffic lights instead of wasting our council tax on your computer system!!!!
Or the non floating piece of dung !!!!!
Life is more precious….
One life lost is one to many…..
But then again this is The Council we are talking about ….
Stop you’re smirking for photos and do something positive for once !!!!!!!
3yrs, how much for consultants?. Traffic lights may cause re end shunts! Didn’t stop At Mary’s or coppins bridge every other change of lights from high street will leave you either not going or ending up in yellow box, not unusual to see police vehicles, taxis ,delivery vans etc- intelegent -Not. Like those outside Sports direct often leaving people in middle of crossing when car’s turn green, or the lights go red when no one crossing, soon there will be a serious injury or worse.
Lowering speed limits on the island has never worked.
Our KSI’s continue to rise even when limits are lowered.
We need to work on the nut holding the steering wheel!
Move the bus stop it’ll happen again
Yet they will spend £765,000 on a website and Millions on a floating bridge that doesn’t even work.
So now the ‘experts’ who waste our money admit that they base their decisions on pure fantasy.
Quote: “The meeting heard that traffic lights can, in certain circumstances, increase the level of danger and the likelihood of rear-end shunts.”
Only a drugged-up looney would come out with such a non-sensical statement. Traffic lights do NOT cause accidents. Idiot drivers cause accidents.
If you don’t know that, IWC, you shouldn’t be in any kind of position where you can mis-manage our tax money!
Coming from the Yarmouth direction you wouldn’t be able to see lights until the last minute so they could cause rear end shunts.!
Surely that depends on keeping your speed down to an appropriate, sensible level that allows you to react to the conditions!
Whilst traffic lights can in some very specific circumstances increase the risk of rear end shunts, in the overwhelming majority of cases, they are much more likely to increase safety.
By the same argument, reducing the speed limit can lead to increased risk due to speed differentials and driver distraction.
If you look hard enough excuses can be found to exclude any option on safety grounds.
Conversely, effectively doing nothing at all will in all circumstances leave a very substantial risk.
Tackle the root cause (poor visibility) and apply appropriate mitigations rather than just the cheapest option.
Isle of wight Council are corrupt and have no respect for life…more fatalities on the way…
Make better signage on the minor roads that there is a junction against their natural flow ahead. Increase the section 22 road traffic signs for this purpose would help surely and not at great costs.
Last time I looked, yesterday, Forest Road does not currently have a 50mph speed limit on that stretch, it’s the national speed limit, 60 mph. However, a 40mph starting west of the double bend and continuing until the current 40mph near the Gunville turn would not hurt and may help – if drivers followed the limit!
Having just returned from a weekend on the mainland where many similar roads are now limited to 50 mph, the limit does not seem to make much difference as most drivers think they know better and ignore them.
funny spent £140.000 on floating bridge signs saying not working …..ts