Speed limit on Essex road to be slashed following slew of fatal crashes
Nine people have died in eight crashes on the A414 between Harlow and Chelmsford in the last five years
A busy Essex road plagued by fatal crashes is to have its speed limits lowered.
The 14.5-mile-long stretch of the A414 between Chelmsford and Tyler’s Green outside Harlow has seen five people killed and 79 injured in crashes in the last 12 months:
- A 40-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a crash between a car and motorbike close to the junction with The Street in Ongar on April 13 last year
- A woman in her 80s died after a collision that involved a lorry and a car on May 1 near Writtle
- A 25-year-old man died in a fatal crash between two vehicles near the Fox and Goose pub and Hanging Garden Nurseries near Writtle on June 22
- A motorcyclist died after a serious crash near the junction with Hylands Park on August 13
- A 35-year-old woman died on September 23 following a crash involving two vehicles – a Ford Ranger and a Fiat 500 – near Water End Farm in Ongar on September 23
In total, nine people have died in eight crashes on the A414 between Harlow and Chelmsford in the last five years.
Essex County Council says it is impossible to say if the number of deaths is due to a highway design issue.
However, due to the number of incidents, a road route study is to be carried out.
It has been agreed that a temporary speed reduction should be implemented as an urgent safety measure. This means that the speed limit will be reduced to 50mph just after the Widford roundabout and then down to 30mph at the Four Wantz roundabout.
After that point the limit will be reduced from the existing 50mph limit to a 40mph limit up to the existing 30mph section to the east of A414/B181 roundabout.
A statement as part of a decision agreed by Essex County Council said: “These accidents have been in different places, and it is not possible to say that there is a highway design issue.
“However, as a result of the number of accidents in recent times, the road safety team are undertaking a route study on the A414, and initial outputs have recommended a number of measures, of which speed reduction is one.
“It should be emphasised that whilst speed was not necessarily the main cause of all or any of these collisions, a speed reduction would have a positive impact on reducing the number and severity of collisions.
“Due to the high number of collisions along this route, approval is sought to implement this temporary speed limit reduction in advance of designing a permanent speed reduction.”
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