PINEWOOD residents today called for safety improvements to one of the area's busiest roads after an accident left a teenager fighting serious head injuries in hospital.
PINEWOOD residents today called for safety improvements to one of the area's busiest roads after an accident left a teenager fighting serious head injuries in hospital.
Dangers on Belmont Road have been highlighted by residents who say speeding vehicles and a lack of traffic calming measures are making the area unsafe.
Their concerns follow an accident on Friday where a car ploughed into a garden wall.
Ethel Meager, 84, was sleeping when a silver Ford Mondeo crashed through her front wall and careered to a stop on her lawn, just feet from her front door.
The male driver of the car and a 15-year-old girl passenger were both taken to Ipswich Hospital with head injuries and the teenager has now been transferred to Cambridgeshire's Addenbrooke's Hospital.
Linda Stanmore lives on Sycamore Close which joins Belmont Road close to Mrs Meager's house.
The 31-year-old said: “It is about time something was done to slow traffic on Belmont Road.
“My husband and I have lived at our address for five years and the speed traffic goes and the number of near misses we see has got worse and worse.
“The road is used as a cut through by people coming from Thorington Park getting onto the main road at Tesco.
“We leave our house at 7.15am most mornings and even at that time it is very dangerous getting out of our close into Belmont Road as the traffic goes at such a speed.
“It is about time Ipswich Borough Council took some action to prevent further accidents.”
Ipswich Borough Council, which is responsible for the management of the road, installed speed activated signs and pedestrian havens in January last year. It followed the death of Lucy Davies, 76, who died following an accident at Belmont Road's junction with Bowland Drive in 2002. The accident was one of several on the road, which links Ellenbrook Road to Hawthorn Drive.
Mrs Meager said: “I do worry about the safety of this road.
“A lot of cars drive too fast and I've heard of several accidents. People need to slow down as it's a dangerous road, what with the hill and the bend.”
A council spokesman said: “We have no plans for any additional plans for any traffic management along that stretch of road.”
Weblink:
www.ipswich.gov.uk
N What safety improvements would you like to see made to Belmont Road? Or do you think it is safe enough already? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here