More improvements needed for dangerous crash blackspot Derby road Lime Lane
Works to improve safety on a “dangerous” and accident hotspot Derby road have been completed and welcomed – but motorists say more improvements are needed.
Last month it was reported Lime Lane, within the Oakwood ward of Derby, was to be closed for two weeks while necessary improvements were being made.
It was reported works would include resurfacing, new lineage and “new signs with better reflective paint to improve illumination of the junction at night”.
The works followed a long-term Derby City Council investigation after councillors said they were frequently inundated with complaints about the safety of the road.
It was claimed an investigation was needed due to the number of accidents and safety complaints made, as well as the potential for hundreds more homes to be built on surrounding land.
The “highly welcomed” works were completed last weekend and Oakwood’s three Conservative councillors say the road is now “dramatically better” than it was before.
The Oakwood councillors – Matthew Eyre, Jamie Mulhall and Freya Trewhella – said in a Facebook post: “Lime Lane has reopened following a few weeks of highway resurfacing, and what an amazing improvement it has made. The surface is dramatically better than it was before, with no potholes remaining and a beautifully smooth surface for drivers, cyclists and all road users alike.
“We will monitor it over the coming months regardless. In the New Year, we will meet with council teams to further discuss the junctions at the A608 (Mansfield Road) and Kings Corner (pub).”
But residents and motorists have responded to the councillors’ message by saying more needs to be done at Lime Lane. There is still a fear the road’s national speed limt of 60mph is too high and needs to be reduced to avoid future accidents.
One person commented: “The speed limit is still 60mph. And now that the road surface has improved (which is great) people won’t need to slow down for the potholes.”
Another motorist commented: “Could do with somewhere for a mobile speed enforcement van. But understand the jurisdiction around that.”
In relation to the speed concerns, the councillors replied: “To be entirely factual, the speed limit was never going to be reduced from these works, as there isn’t a documented and incident report-evidenced reason for the council to do it.
“We’ve all experienced near misses, but speed hasn’t been THE reason for crashes, though it has been a reason. Most reasons are driver error, intoxication and surface issues. As such, we are trying to get an agreement that despite the lack of documented evidence, the speed limit should be reduced to 40mph for 300m either side of the junction, because of the reported experiences of users and the evidence that the junction is over-capacity – that battle continues.”
And another said: “Massive improvement, thanks for all your campaigning.”