Council Must Act on A35 Safety.
February 23, 2009 2:30 PM
A35 Blackspot
The A35 near the Bloxworth junction has been know as a dangerous stretch of road for a long time. Despite many requests, Dorset County Council has so far failed to take effective measures to improve safety there and is coming under renewed pressure after two recent fatal accidents in the area.
A motorcyclist was killed on this stretch of road at the start of February and a 53 year old man died in an accident there at the end of the month. This is in addition to a number of other fatalities and over twenty collisions in 2008.
Annette Brooke, MP for Mid Dorset & North Poole has written to Dorset County Council demanding action on this issue 9 times in the last year. While the Council has implemented a driver scheme for local residents this does not seem to have tackled the problem. Annette has suggested painting double white lines on the road at the Bloxworth Road section which is the site of some of these incidents, and having a warning sign installed warning drivers of the accident record on the road. Such signs have, in the past, been dismissed by the County Council due to their wish to reduce 'unnecessary signage or roadside clutter'. Dorset County Council has also argued against protective barriers due to the need to 'carefully consider the costs'.
The County Council's Performance Overview Committee is due to look into this issue on the 19th of March and are coming under renewed pressure to take effective action. Annette Brooke commented "Dorset County Council seem to have no conception of how urgent this issue of safety on the A35 is. How many more accidents will it take? The review is welcome but this matter cannot be allowed to drag on."
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