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15
Aug 2024
‘One death was enough’: South Stainley woman's plea for A61 speed reduction
A South Stainley resident, whose parents were killed in a car crash on the A61, has urged councillors to reduce the speed limit on the road.
The woman, who asked to remain anonymous, made the plea after Ripon city councillors objected to a bid to reduce the speed limit on the road between Ripon and Harrogate from 60mph to 50mph.
Her parents were killed in a collision on the road 12 years ago. But the deaths of four people, including two children, who were killed on the road in the space of just eight days last year prompted the woman and other South Stainley residents to campaign for the speed limit reduction.
They met with Skipton and Ripon MP Julian Smith, who subsequently urged North Yorkshire Council to act.
The council then proposed a Traffic Regulation Order in order to reduce the speed and improve road safety, but some Ripon city councillors felt it would have the opposite effect.
Cllr Peter Horton, whose objection was supported by fellow councillors, said at the time:
Reducing the speed limit on sections of the road will not improve safety, but will increase queueing traffic and reduce the opportunities for overtaking HGVs and other large vehicles.
Cllr Pauline McHardy said the A61 is an “accident waiting to happen”, but the speed reduction “won’t work”.
But the South Stainley resident said the road is “very unsafe”, with “incidents and near misses” happening daily.
Not only is she seeking a speed limit reduction, but also the removal of the short overtaking lane, which operates near a blind bend.
She told the Stray Ferret:
There have been several fatalities on this overtaking lane – any other authority would be taking this very seriously.
I’m not sure how many deaths are needed, but I feel one is enough. Would the council like to be responsible for the next fatality?
She said the overtaking lane is “outdated”, adding:
The overtaking lane is too short and motorists simply run off road and then have to cut into traffic causing more aggression and erratic driving.
It’s also an entrance to three properties and farm vehicles. All residents of South Stainley support the removal of this and have all stated how dangerous it is.
Speed kills and the road is one of the most dangerous in the country. People make mistakes, especially those who are visiting the area and believe the road and speed limit to be safe – it is not!
There is a mix of vehicles, including cyclists, on winding roads and it has become a racing track with aggressive and irrational driving. It needs calming measures to be in place – obviously reducing the speed would do this.
It’s also too unsafe to stand at the uncovered bus stops on the A61 and the council want to encourage public transport.
It is ‘imperative’ council works to avoid more tragedies
Following the objections, we put the woman’s personal plea to councillor Keane Duncan, the executive member for transport.
Mr Duncan, who supports the changes to the A61, reiterated his comments this month, which said:
The proposed 50mph speed limit will better reflect the road conditions, which should improve safety for all road users on the A61.
Public responses will be considered as part of the decision-making process. If approved, we intend to introduce the 50mph speed limit and improved signage later this financial year.
Work on an in-depth study of the A61 to establish further improvements is being undertaken and it is hoped these will be implemented next year.
Mr Duncan told the Stray Ferret “too many people” have lost their lives on the road in recent years. He added:
It is imperative that we move forward with safety improvements on this stretch to help avoid further tragedies.
The proposed 50mph limit is already progressing and we will consider further measures too.
'Accidents aren't always attributary to speed'
The Stray Ferret also put the resident's concerns to Cllr Horton, who is the deputy leader of the city council, and asked him how he would feel if the speed limit remained at 60mph and another fatality occured on the road.
He said:
Accidents are not always attributary to speed – they are often caused by people failing to observe the road.
Cllr Horton repeated his concerns that a speed reduction would merely increase traffic and congestion on the A61, which he felt would only worsen as housing developments are completed:
Take the Clotherholme barracks development for example. If that goes ahead, that will only increase traffic and a reduced speed limit will then increase congestion.
If the bid does go before North Yorkshire Council, I will put the city council's case to them.
We also asked Cllr Horton what measures he felt would improve road safety and reduce fatalities.
He told the Stray Ferret a dual carriageway would be the real remedy, but said this would be "in an ideal world".
Cllr Horton added:
I think the roads should revert to a three-lane structure, with two lanes going in one direction and the other lane going in another. It was like that when we arrived in Ripon in the 60s.
Most of the time, people are usually driving at about 50mph on the road or less, but when there's no traffic on the road late at night or early in the morning, there's nothing wrong with the 60mph limit.
North Yorkshire Council, which is responsible for the county’s highways, will make a final decision on the changes to the A61 later this year.
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