The concerns of elderly people who are reportedly scared to leave their homes because of crashes at a junction in Wokingham have been addressed.
Councillor Rachel Burgess (Labour, Norreys) has called for Wokingham Borough Council to conduct a road safety review of the junction of Rectory Road and Wiltshire Road near the town centre.
That’s after six crashes at the junction in recent years, with three incidents reported in the last seven months, and two of them happening in the last two months.
In one case, a driver crashed into the railings for the Renaissance retirement apartments in Wiltshire Road.
Cllr Burgess asked cllr Paul Fishwick (Liberal Democrats, Winnersh) executive member for transport, to take measures to ensure pedestrian and driver safety at the junction.
However, cllr Fishwick replied that there was a lack of evidence for serious crashes at the junction.
Cllr Fishwick said: “The council is sorry to learn of collisions with private property.
“Wiltshire Road is a busy A class road carrying over 8,200 vehicles daily, and police reports show one collision involving an injury to a road user, but not associated with the private property.
“On average 85 per cent of speeds are compliant with the speed limit.
“Given the high level of use and low injury collision record, it is clear that the road does not have an inherent safety risk.
“Whilst its evident from resident reports that over the past year some drivers fail to cope the road layout, that has been in place for decades and caused no problem to drivers previously using this road.
“The absence of information about individual collisions means that it’s not possible to identify factors that may have contributed to the recent spate of incidents.”
READ MORE: Elderly people 'scared to walk near road' as it becomes crash black spot in Wokingham
He went on to say the road markings and layout of the junction is appropriate but an assessment is being undertaken to determine whether a pedestrian crossing could be formed at the location.
Cllr Fishwick then stressed speed enforcement lies with Thames Valley Police.
In follow-up remarks, cllr Burgess said: “What can we do now as a council to ensure we move away from this position where we appear to have to wait for something really awful to happen before any action is actually taken.”
Cllr Fishwick replied that the cause of the problem at the junction is unknown, therefore it is unclear what action can be taken to address it.
He added: “Unfortunately, no highway authority can plan for bad driver behaviour, or driving under the influence of drugs, or excess alcohol, or mechanical failure.
“Therefore there is little we can actually do, other than monitor the site and get as much information as possible from any incidents that unfortunately occur in the future.”
The exchange occurred at the full council meeting on Thursday, January 19.
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