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Grisly toll of death on the A36 means it is time for action
(June 25, 2012)A BUSY Friday earlier this month saw yet another fatal accident on the short stretch of highway between Knook and Codford.
The victim was a 91-year-old man residing in Upton Lovell.
The powers that be must surely now take notice and do something to try to stem this appalling loss of life on the A36 in this area. The lack of action is stunning.
I'm sure many people have contacted the MP and Highways Agency about this matter on numerous occasions, including my Vision for Warminster colleague Paul Macdonald.
Steve Dancey who gave planning permission for a new road in 1991 when a member of WCC planning committee, said: "I fully realise that a new stretch of highway fit for its purpose could be many years away but in the meantime I have some ideas worthy of consideration.
"It is quite likely that speed is a factor in a number of these terrible accidents, so there needs to be an effective way of reducing speeds between Knook and the Hillside Cafe.
"Why not bring in new technology in the form of average speed monitoring along the whole length of this suspect section of highway with a view to bringing speed right down and thereby reducing the seriousness of any future accidents?
"This technology is now available and employed regularly on our motorways and although not cheap it could be deployed relatively quickly and, in my opinion, would be more effective than a single speed camera or speed activated warning device.
"There should also be a ban on all vehicles leaving the village to join the A36 at this junction.
"This part of 'Death Valley' must surely be one of the priority constituency problems and as this is a trunk road it must be a matter for our MP.
"In the past local MPs have been listened to. In the early 1990s Robert Key was very successful in getting traffic lights installed at the A36/A303 Deptford junction following the deaths of two elderly women in an accident while on the A303 the Hawk Conservancy gap near Weyhill was closed after a number of deaths."
VFW has contacted Dr Murrison who told us he was always on the case when death occurred on his patch but confirmed the rather mawkish fact that the Highways Agency will only act when the grisly cost benefit analysis of death versus road improvement cost is sufficiently pointing to action.
MORE ON THIS FROM PAUL MACDONALD SOON
The victim was a 91-year-old man residing in Upton Lovell.
The powers that be must surely now take notice and do something to try to stem this appalling loss of life on the A36 in this area. The lack of action is stunning.
I'm sure many people have contacted the MP and Highways Agency about this matter on numerous occasions, including my Vision for Warminster colleague Paul Macdonald.
Steve Dancey who gave planning permission for a new road in 1991 when a member of WCC planning committee, said: "I fully realise that a new stretch of highway fit for its purpose could be many years away but in the meantime I have some ideas worthy of consideration.
"It is quite likely that speed is a factor in a number of these terrible accidents, so there needs to be an effective way of reducing speeds between Knook and the Hillside Cafe.
"Why not bring in new technology in the form of average speed monitoring along the whole length of this suspect section of highway with a view to bringing speed right down and thereby reducing the seriousness of any future accidents?
"This technology is now available and employed regularly on our motorways and although not cheap it could be deployed relatively quickly and, in my opinion, would be more effective than a single speed camera or speed activated warning device.
"There should also be a ban on all vehicles leaving the village to join the A36 at this junction.
"This part of 'Death Valley' must surely be one of the priority constituency problems and as this is a trunk road it must be a matter for our MP.
"In the past local MPs have been listened to. In the early 1990s Robert Key was very successful in getting traffic lights installed at the A36/A303 Deptford junction following the deaths of two elderly women in an accident while on the A303 the Hawk Conservancy gap near Weyhill was closed after a number of deaths."
VFW has contacted Dr Murrison who told us he was always on the case when death occurred on his patch but confirmed the rather mawkish fact that the Highways Agency will only act when the grisly cost benefit analysis of death versus road improvement cost is sufficiently pointing to action.
MORE ON THIS FROM PAUL MACDONALD SOON