Community calling for Chester road safety action following child's tragic death
A petition has been signed more than 3,500 times
A local community is rallying behind a campaign to improve road safety outside a Chester school where an 11-year-old boy died after being hit by a car.
Evan Rothwell, from Chester, was hit outside the King's School on Wrexham Road on Tuesday 12 November.
He died in Alder Hey a few days later.
A petition was launched following the incident, calling for:
- An immediate, temporary 30mph limit on this section of Wrexham Road
- Proactive work with the school and local community to implement permanent changes to this junction to reduce further risks
- Proactive inclusion of representation from the local community in risk assessments
The road currently has a 40mph limit.
Michael O'Neill, who set up the petition, said:
"I set up this petition to be proactive about the problems we've seen at this junction. I knew there would be increasing calls for action by the local authorities and having engaged, I knew the only way to do that was to get the public's voice heard loud and clear.
"This road has quite a bit of history, it's a 40mph road into the city. The junction was, I would say, unsatisfactory before it was reengineered and after they reengineered it, I've always been nervous about going across this junction with my kids. I hold their hands tight and I make sure we follow the junction and the rules, but I can see lots of flaws in the design that I wanted to talk to the local authorities about.
"People are very, very nervous"
"I've been astounded by the response (to the petition). I was expecting a few hundred people to sign my petition, I've got 3,500 and I think I need to get to over 5,000 to really get the local authority to listen.
"Let's find a practical solution as fast as possible. People are very, very nervous now. I was always nervous but I think everybody else is nervous now and we need to act fast, we don't need to delay.
"It's going to be a dark month, December, so let's get something done before the end of term."
In a statement issued through Cheshire Police, Evan's family are also calling for a reduced speed limit on that stretch of road.
They said:
"The speed limit on the road where Evan was hit is a 40mph limit.
"This road is outside a school, and we strongly feel that this needs to be lowered to prevent anything like this from happening again."
In a statement, Chester West and Chester Council said:
"We were devastated to hear about the tragic incident outside the Kings School in Chester last week and our thoughts are with Evan's family, friends, his school community and everyone else affected at this incredibly difficult time.
"Officers in our Highways Service are doing all they can to fully support Cheshire Police as they complete their enquiries.
"As the incident is now part of an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment further at this time."