MP calls for safety first in A34 plans
Highways England’s upgrades focus on convenience
SAFETY, not convenience, should be the focus for the A34 through West Berkshire and Oxfordshire, Newbury MP Laura Farris has said.
Highways England’s A34 improvement project is exploring opportunities to reduce congestion and improve safety on the A34 between the M4 and M40.
Data from CrashMap shows that there were 11 fatalities and 70 crashes resulting in injury between Newbury and East Ilsley between 2015 and 2019.
Last month, 27-year-old Cambridge University graduate Oliver Williams died in a singlevehicle collision on the A34 near East Ilsley.
Improvements to the A34 have been listed in Highways England’s five-year delivery plan for 2020-2025 although there is scant detail at this stage.
Mrs Farris wrote to Highways England last month urging it to prioritise safety, saying that the A34 had claimed too many lives and remains one of the most dangerous dual carriageways in England.
Since then the secretary of state has replied to Mrs Farris on the upgrades.
But in a House of Commons debate last Wednesday, Mrs Farris said: “However, I did notice that the focus of his correspondence was on improving congestion and commute times along the route, and secondarily on improving air and noise pollution.”
Mrs Farris said that although these improvements were welcome, the primary issue was safety.
Results of a survey conducted on Mrs Farris’ website showed that people viewed the junctions at East Ilsley as precarious, along with ones at Beedon, Speen and Wash Common.
Respondents said that longer slip roads were needed and suggestions were made for a speed limit and/or creating a dedicated HGV lane near East Ilsley.
Speaking last week, Mrs Farris said that the switchback section with blind corners near East Ilsley needed to be addressed.
Calls to improve safety were launched by the A34 Action Group following the death of Tracy Houghton, 45, her two sons Ethan and Josh, 13 and 11, and her partner’s daughter Aimee Goldsmith, 11, in 2016.
A lorry driven by Tomasz Kroker ploughed into stationary traffic at 50mph while he was distracted by his mobile phone.
Mrs Farris said that although reports of the court case had focussed on Kroker changing the music on his phone, he had just come out of the switchback blind corner and not seen the built-up traffic.
Mrs Farris said: “Although the Highways England plans for this stretch of the road are welcome, it is safety – rather than convenience – which I would respectfully request to be the priority.”