Council urged to meet drivers to talk about Swindon's Mead Way junction
It's seen two crashes in seven months
Highways experts, and the deputy leader and cabinet member for strategic infrastructure and transport, at Swindon Borough Council, Gary Sumner, have been urged to speak and listen, to drivers who use the recently remodelled and re-opened Mead Way, who feel it is dangerous.
Two recent collisions, one in April and the other just this week, have given rise to concerns that some of the junctions with the main route through West Swindon are confusing and dangerous.
As Councillor Sumner was giving a report to members of the council’s Scrutiny Committee on his portfolio’s year, including the bedevilled Mead way works, leader of the labour group of councillors Jim Robbins asked him to call a public meeting.
Councillor Robbins said: “Will you call a public meeting so the people who are using mead way in their cars on a daily basis can feed back what they think to you?
“The comments on the Adver on stories about these two collision show that plenty of people have serious concerns about the road and the junctions. They want to be able to engage with the council to tell it what they think.”
Comments on the Advertiser’s story about the collision at junction with Westmead Drive and Stonehill Green on October 25 between two cars include one by a reader using the name Melsomp who wrote: “This is a very poorly designed junction – two lanes of traffic are now able to head west from the Meads roundabout, but the right hand lane traffic has to stop when a vehicle waits to turn right into Westmead Drive across the oncoming traffic, this results in some drivers trying to swing left into an often fast moving left hand lane.”
Others however take a different view: a user with the name Gasman1983 said: “My thoughts exactly have used the new junction on several occasions with no drama. Then again I am competent at using my eyes mirrors and indicators. Unlike a lot of road users.”
But Coun Sumner said the council’s highways officers were already talking with the police and conducting a road safety audit of the site of the collision in April at the same junction.
He said: “We will have a report and that will be published and we’ll talk to residents if it says anything needs to be changed.”
That didn’t please Coun Robbins. He said: “The Local Government Association peer review report said this council has a problem with public engagement.
“I cannot see why the deputy leader is turning a tin ear to people who actively want to engage with the council.”