Community Speed Watch set up in Stoke after 6-year-old was killed by car
Locals want traffic calming measures to be introduced
A Community Speed Watch has been set up in Norton Green after a 6-year-old girl was hit and killed by a car earlier this year.
Sharlotte-Sky Naglis was walking on the pavement with her father when she tragically died during the incident on the evening before Father's Day in June.
The speed watch group has since been formed through efforts from local councillors, who pledged funding towards measures which will improve road safety in the area.
Stoke-on-Trent City councillors Carl Edwards, Dave Evans and James Smith arranged a meeting for volunteers last week.
Michelle Shaker, Community Speed Watch Coordinator for Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership, spoke those who came to the meeting.
"It’s become difficult to cross the road safely"
The speed watch group will be collecting evidence to back local calls for speed measures to be introduced along Ball Lane and Endon Road.
There are regular cases of speeding in the area, which has playgrounds and bus stops nearby.
Police officers recorded 36 drivers travelling between 35-39mph, seven between 40-44mph and two between 45-49mph on the 30mph limit road.
Charlotte Kay, 43, a resident on Endon Road, said: “I’ve lived here 20 years and traffic has got progressively busier and faster.
“Over the years we’ve seen a number of collisions and it’s become difficult to cross the road safely.
“Getting money for the proposed scheme is the most progress we’ve seen in many years, and I think it’s important that residents of both Norton Green and Brown Edge come together to implement the Speed Watch scheme.”
Councillor Dave Evans, partly responsible for setting up the speed watch scheme, said that money has been made available as part of the council's Local Transport Plan.
“There are options around building out pavements, for example, and putting in priority lanes. There are options around the geometry of the road", he said.
“A lot of the houses are terraced, and are very close to the road.
“We have to meet Staffordshire Safer Roads Partnership’s assessment criteria, to demonstrate if we want to put things on Endon Road in terms of traffic calming."
The three councillors behind the speed watch scheme have vowed to take part, with training for volunteers expected to begin in December.
Proposals for a traffic calming measures to be installed will be discussed in 2022.