West Lynn: Council chief in junction cash pledge
MORE money will be made available to pay for new work at an accident blackspot junction in West Lynn if it is needed, a senior county councillor has pledged.
The vow was made at a public meeting in nearby Clenchwarton on Monday night, which was called to discuss the turning on the old A17 near the East Coast Business Park.
Asked whether a roundabout or traffic lights would be funded at the turning, Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “If that is the right solution, we will find it.”
The meeting had earlier been told that a roundabout could cost up to £1 million to install, while traffic lights would cost around £500,000.
But Mr Plant added: “If it isn’t, then I will spend the money where people are being killed or seriously injured.”
Residents were earlier told that CCTV cameras would be installed next Thursday, September 13, to monitor the junction for a fortnight.
Highways officer Tim Edmunds said the current slip road had reduced the previous problem of collisions caused by drivers turning out of the junction, but created a new problem of accidents primarily caused by motorists turning into the junction.
He admitted there had probably been more accidents since the road was remodelled than before, but said most of them had involved low-speed manoeuvres whereas more collisions under the old layout had been more serious.
He added that he would try to bring the camera installation date forward, but insisted the monitoring was necessary for officials to see the problems for themselves.
But resident Richard Burton said the cameras weren’t needed and claimed the authority should have acted to solve the problem much earlier.
“You shouldn’t be setting up CCTV to watch people crash”, he said.
A number of potential solutions were proposed at the meeting in the Clenchwarton Memorial Hall, including blocking off the existing slip road or removing the give way lines at the end of the slip road.
Other measures, including reinstating the old slip road which is now a cycle lane or making drivers turning right into the junction give way to oncoming traffic were also suggested, while one speaker called for the 40 mile per hour speed limit on the road to be looked at.
And Mr Edwards said that all options would be examined in a bid to find a solution to a problem which he described as being “pretty near the top” of officials’ priority list.
But Labour’s Alexandra Kemp called for a guarantee that a “proper solution” would be funded at the site, adding that West Norfolk felt like “the poor relations” of the county.
County council leader Derrick Murphy dismissed a comment by Mr Burton that he didn’t think he and officers would be there “if there wasn’t an election coming up” as “cynical” and “offensive.”
But he admitted that the council should have acted “yesterday” to solve the problem.
A letter from North West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham was also read to the meeting, in which he pledged his “100 per cent support” to the fight for improvements.
A further meeting on the issue is to be held at the Clenchwarton Memorial Hall on Monday, October 1, at 7pm.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for King's Lynn
Monday 20 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 9 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 7 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: North
