Manea councillor is hoping New Year will bring new thinking on accident blackspot at Boot Bridge/Sixteen Foot junction

A village councillor has made a New Year’s plea to authorities in a bid to finally resolve the issues at a notorious accident blackspot.

Cllr Charlie Marks, who represents Manea on Fenland District Council, made his hopes plain in an email sent to Cambridgeshire County Council highways regarding the Boots Bridge junction on Wimblington Road and Sixteen Foot Bank.

The message was sent on New Year’s Eve to Cllr Alex Beckett chair of Cambridgeshire highways and transport committee, with a copy also going to the council’s head of project service for infrastructure and project delivery.

Cllr Marks claims the remedial work carried out in the summer which cost £10,000s and saw new signage including road markings installed has failed to do its intended job of cutting accidents.

He is hoping that the New Year might herald a new approach to the junction which saw two accidents occur, one involving a motorcyclist and a horse box, just days after the road re-opened following the safety improvement work.

Cllr Marks said that just months after improvements at the junction, which is a regular spot for crashes, there are still ongoing issues for users and that the measures have failed to stop accidents.

He accompanied his email with a series of photographs showing issues with signs already at the site as well as those newly installed this summer.

Cllr Marks said: “As you can see from the attached photos a number of the signs have in the last four months been damaged due to accidents occurring at the junction.

“Looking back to September following the two accidents that involved the emergency services attending, one including the air ambulance, I informed you an email with some photos of the missing/damaged signage, which has only gotten worse since then.

“The left-hand side ‘Give Way’ sign on the road from Manea has for at least the last five years blown around in high winds so drivers cannot read it – this could be easily resolved by a £1 bolt but instead your contractors attend the site and tighten or replace the clips.

“Whatever must this be costing the ratepayers?

“The right-hand side sign has been detached and has been lying on the verge for over four months.

“The main direction signs were damaged in one of the notifiable accidents in September and are just resting on the floor against the posts.

“Coming from the A141 the ‘Give Way’ in 200 yards sign has dropped on the post and again gets blown around in the wind and the left-hand sign on the bridge along with the crash barrier has been bent and is now at an angle facing the river.

“All this damage has happened since the remedial work to make the junction better.

“Being made aware of this damage again I am sure you would agree that this work does seem to have not achieved what the Cambridgeshire County Council highways had hoped regarding preventing accidents.

“I would now firstly ask why, knowing the history of accidents at this junction, after almost four months none of this accident/weather damage has been repaired.

“Secondly what further action to make this junction safer does Cambridgeshire highways intend to carry out in the coming months to try to improve the safety of the junction? I look forward to receiving your response.”

When the new signs were unveiled by the council in August Cllr Beckett said: “We’re aware of the concerns and following further engagement with residents and councillors, we have made several changes to warn drivers ahead of the junction and, most importantly, aim to reduce vehicle speeds.

“We’ve lowered the speed limit on the approaches, added red countdown markers, new 'Give-way' and directional signs, and introduced a red high-friction surface around the junction.’’

But many local drivers along with Cllr Marks have questioned why the county council has not replaced the ‘Give Way’ signs with ‘STOP’ – many feel this simple change could help the situation especially as those from outside the area and following satnavs may not realise how dangerous the junction is and proceed accordingly.

In September just a month after the remedial work was completed Cllr Marks called for further safety measures and called for ‘STOP’ signs to be installed.

However, a county council spokesperson explained at the time: “The new signage and markings installed at the Boots Bridge junction have been carefully chosen as part of safety improvements and reflect the guidance which is provided to all traffic authorities by the Government.

“Using a ‘STOP’ sign, rather than ‘Give Way’, is only appropriate in locations with significantly reduced visibility, such as where traffic approaches from around a blind bend.”

But, it has been well-recognised by locals that despite the apparent good view in both directions there are blindspots on both sides of the junction.