Plans for Notorious A39 Westleigh Junction Near Bideford Go Public
By A_McCormack | Tuesday, September 07, 2010, 14:53
Plans for improvements to the notorious Westleigh Junction on the A39 near Bideford will go on show to the public later this month.
County Council is currently preparing the final scheme design before
starting a consultation next Monday 13 September 2010, when plans will be
displayed at Barnstaple Library until Friday 24 September. It will then
move to Bideford Library from Monday 27 September to Friday 8 October
The
County Council's Cabinet agreed in July that a consultation should be
carried out into proposals for a £630,000 traffic light scheme at the
junction. The current plans have been drawn up following a recent
comprehensive safety review at the site which considered a number of
options.
A previous safety review of the site in 2007 found
that the main problems were traffic turning right from the A386 on to
the A39, and traffic turning right from the A39 to the A386 across
eastbound traffic. Between 2004 and 2008 there was an average of 2.6
injury accidents per year at the junction. A significant proportion of
accidents at the junction involve older drivers.
Councillor
Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and
Transportation, said: “Concerns have been raised over safety at
Westleigh Junction for some time, particularly for turning vehicles, so
it is right that this is addressed. The junction met the design
standards at the time it was constructed, but over the years it has
posed problems because of its layout and as a consequence there has
been a number of accidents. Interactive signing was installed as a
remedial measure, but there have since been further accidents at the
junction. Our recent review has found that safety can be significantly
improved with the installation of traffic lights and we now want to
share the proposals with local people before we finalise the design."
Traffic
lights are seen to be a cost effective solution at the junction as they
can be upgraded to cope with future traffic growth forecast in the
Local Development Framework on which North Devon Council and Torridge
District Council are currently consulting. This envisages additional
housing and employment at Bideford, East the Water and Barnstaple and
it is anticipated that traffic on the A39 will increase significantly
during the next fifteen years.
Councillor Rodney Cann, Devon
County Councillor for Fremington Rural, said: "This has been a very
controversial junction with an awful accident record and I’m delighted
the County Council is taking some action on this. It’s not the solution
that was expected but it is a solution that will work and improve
safety. This will help to simply what is a very confusing layout which
has been a major factor in contributing to the accidents, particularly
among elderly drivers."
It is expected that the scheme will be constructed during 2011.
The plans will also be available to view online at www.devon.gov.uk/westleighjunction.
Comments
To me the solution is simple.................... Westbound traffic leaves and joins by a newly created slip road which joins the roundabout below the A39 that then leaves the existing slip to be used by Eastbound traffic joining or leaving the A39. For goodness sake it's not fliipin rocket science
By LynCrediton at 19:20 on 15/11/10
ReportThat would make sense, MyVote. It seems it would be simple for traffic coming from Barnstaple to drive over the bridge, around the roundabout and back to the slip road.
Does anyone know if these plans are still being approved or if the traffic lights are actually going ahead?
By biddy_blogger at 10:58 on 01/11/10
Reportgrannygreen is ofcourse correct this should be a roundabout and traffic lights are going to cause alot of delays. and although they may well save lives, they will be installed because they are the cheap option. I'm not sure anyone ever analysed the real reason for all the accidents. I noted though that most drivers turning right off the A39 don't seem to realise that they have to give way to traffic turning right onto the A39, I've experienced plenty not giving priority - thats what the double row of large rectangles means in the road GIVE WAY! The best solution outside of a roundabout would have been to remove the right turn into or out of the Westleigh junction and skip traffic lights altogether.
By MyVote at 10:30 on 01/11/10
ReportTraffic lights at Westleigh Junction?! I don't see how that is going to improve the dangers at this junction. If Rodney Cann says "It's not the solution that was expected." then why doesn't he, and everyone else, object to this proposal. This should be a roundabout. Simple - save lives.
By grannygreen at 21:00 on 30/10/10
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