Calls for action on A46 in Warwickshire where residents ‘take life in their own hands’

LIVES are still being put at risk on the A46 and something needs to be done… soon.

Those were the takeaway messages from a meeting to address safety issues on sections of the A46, one of which was described as “a death trap”.

Residents and council representatives from areas around the A46 met at Salford Prior Memorial Hall
last Friday (28th February) to watch presentations by various organisations related to the road.

The meeting was organised and led by Stratford MP Manuela Perteghella following concerns raised by the people who regularly use the road, particularly between Alcester and Stratford.

Representatives from National Highways, Bloor Homes, Midlands Connect and the Stratford Town Transport Group gave talks and fielded questions.

One of the main issues raised was the safety of the road which has seen a number of crashes in recent years with some proving to be fatal, the most recent involving Linda Boore, 75, who was on her way home to
Nottingham from a wedding in October 2023 when her car was hit head-on at Redhill.

The Herald launched a campaign calling on the A46 to be made safer with improvements at Redhill and another well-known accident spot, the Billesely junction, which was also highlighted at the meeting.

Cllr Mike Giddings from Kinwarton Parish Council said: “It is a death trap. Everybody slows down when coming up to the junction because they don’t know whether people are going to turn right, left, carry on going, or if people are going
to come out in front of them. So I can just reiterate, it is a dreadful junction.”

It’s not just motorists who are in danger, the meeting was told.

Tim James, chair of Salford Priors Parish Council, gave an example of how residents are concerned with the current layout of the road from Evesham and into Salford Priors.

“If parishioners from both Bidford and Salford go across that road, they take their life in their own hands. If you’ve got a HGV turning into Salford from Evesham, he stops. And you think, I’ve got time to get across, but you can’t.

“We have a lady in the parish who walks to Bidford most days. She’s severely disabled, and she crosses that dual carriageway. And there is nothing to indicate to drivers that there is a pedestrian, not a pedestrian crossing, but a right-of-way across that dual carriageway, both sides of the island.

“Our concerns are, as we wrote to Manuela, navigating the traffic island at Salford Priors is hazardous for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, particularly when crossing from Station Road to the B439 Bidford. The high speed approach in traffic, poor design and layout.”

Fiona McKenzie is a route manager at National Highways. Questions for her from the audience centred around when improvement projects would be started.

She said: “It’s worth mentioning there are a lot of people that are working very hard across various different companies and businesses to make this happen. There’s liaison with Warwickshire County Council on road space, there’s competing
issues with road space and budgets. There are a lot of different moving parts in this.”

The meeting concluded with Ms Perteghella addressing the actions for the groups to take the next steps. This included calling on National Highways to contact the town and parish councils in relation to safety concerns, and she also offered her own support to Bloor Homes in efforts to speed up the process of work on and around the A46.

“We have a clear list of actions outlining key issues raised by parish and town representatives at the meeting, for National Highways, Stratford Transport Group, Midlands Connect, Bloor Homes, and some for Warwickshire County
Council too, to ensure that the A46 as it crosses our constituency, is made safe, after the increase in HGVs
traffic, fatal accidents, near misses and speeding problems, as well issues with dangerous junctions,” she said.

“We got everyone in the room and I want to thank all the participants and speakers, and special thanks to
Salford Priors for their organisation of this important A46 meeting.

“We now need to continue to push for these upgrades to happen as quickly as possible.”