On the 5th February Stone Town Councillors will discuss reducing the speed limit and improving safety on the A51 from the A34 roundabout to just past Aston Marina.
Cllr Rob Kenney agreed to raise the matter after a request from local residents, following a number of accidents near the Aston Link Road and Aston Bridge Road. The most recent incident happened on the 19th January and involved three vehicles, resulting in casualties being taken to a nearby hospital.
There have been multiple accidents and countless near misses on the stretch of road, including fatalities.
The road currently has a 60mph limit which has a busy traffic junction with lots of south Stone residents heading out on the Aston Link Road for the A34 or north towards Sandon.
Councillors will discuss reducing the speed limit and improving safety features. This could include such things as improving the footpath curbs which are not currently safety curbs (safety curbs are normally installed on national speed limit roads to act as a barrier to protect pedestrians). The road has a children’s play area nearby which has a footpath leading directly to the road and across into a wooded area where there have been reports of near misses with vehicles and pedestrians crossing the A51.
Local residents hope the number of accidents can be reduced and that pedestrians using the footpaths will be safer as a result. It is hoped that cars pulling into, and out of, the increasingly popular Marina will also benefit as a result of the speed reductions. Again this spot has seen a number of accidents and near misses near to the Marina entrance.
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3 comments
George
Yes many accidents have occurred here due to fast traffic and drivers who should not be on the road, i feel the only solution is to introduce and island with a drop in speed limit, speed difficult to police i know but an island would be the only solution help with this, in the meantime while stafford borough contemplate this as they have no money to do anything much except pay wages it will probably be many years down the road to expect the problem being tackled, in the meantime the best we could hope for is a speed restriction which involves a few signs being installed and the road safety camera van doing it’s job parking where accidents actually occur most instead of parking up in area’s where no accidents occur so they can catch speeders for cash such as one favorite area is the A51 between the Weston lights and Sandon.
AB
Having lived adjacent to this area for more than 20 years I can only agree that measures to improve safety are long overdue.
As stated in the article the junction with Aston Lane is dangerous for drivers, the visibility being restricted for those turning right out of the lane. The so called footpath on the A51 from the A34 is unfit for purpose and at night is quite scary to walk along with vehicles passing so close and at such high speed. But for me the most dangerous aspect is the footpath which crosses the A51 between Little Stoke and Aston. There needs to be a island refuge in the centre of the A51 since pedestrians often get half way across the road to then be confronted by a vehicle arriving unseen and at speed. And the speed limit needs to be dropped to 40 mph until clear of the Marina.
Jo Knowles
I am not convinced that the reduction of speed limits actually has any effect. Since the speed reduction on The A34 itself, down to 40mph, most drivers seem to treat it as a suggestion rather than a rule. Cars frequently drive through red lights on the pedestrian crossing on the edge of The Cherryfields estate, and when crossing the road by Aldi ,you need to stand well back from the edge because cars speed up to try to beat the lights. Speed reductions only work if they are properly policed.