Action call to make town safer

The scene of an accident in Spilsby which has sparked a call to make roads safer.

An extraordinary meeting of Spilsby Town Council is to take place to discuss a number of 'safety concerns' affecting residents.

The meeting follows a recent two-vehicle accident at the crossroads on the A16 which has seen "three serious accidents in the past five years" - and comes in a week it was revealed in new analysis by car specialist AMT that Lincolnshire is the deadliest county to drive through with 56 fatalities recorded in 2018..

Town Mayor Terry Taylor said he hopes as many people go along to the meeting. "There was a lot of reaction following the recent accident on the A16 but there are also other safety concerns in the town so we will be looking at those too and seeing what can be done.

The phone box which is blocking the view at the pedestrian crossing is on the agenda of a special meeting in Spilsby.

^On a positive note statistics show the Community Speedwatch is taking effect and the work by our volunteers is making a difference and people are slowing down.

"But there is more we can do to keep residents safe and we hope the town will support us and come along to the meeting."

Items on the agenda include:

a Accidents at the A16/B1195 crossroads

b. 30 mph signs on the A16 with regarding to sufficient warning and visibility

c. Pedestrian Crossing next to the telephone box

d. Parking at Lady Jane Franklin Estate

e. Parking on single yellow lines on Market Street

Regarding the latest statistics on fatalities on the county . the Standard spoke to John Siddle, of the Lincolnshire Road Partnership.

He told us: "We have long recognised that Lincolnshire's roads are challenging and put road users at significant risk.

"The safest type of roads are motorways, Lincolnshire does not have any. The rural nature of our network (around 6500km) means most roads are at national speed limit, many unlit sections, ditch or tree lined and we have limited public transport.

"Closures of local amenities (shops and post offices), although many things are done on-line, mean people use their cars to get the basic essentials like shopping etc.

"Significant reductions in fatalities have occurred since 2000. We know the drop has slowed and we may be at a plateau point, although the five-year trend on casualty collisions has dropped. With that reduction we should see the number of fatals reduce, however, there will always be 'spikes' that flag up."

The meeting in Spilsby takes place on Wednesday at 6pm in the Council Chamber at Franklin Hall in Halton Road. There will be a public forum for a maximum of 15 minutes at the start of the meeting, when members of the public may ask questions or make short statements.