Airdrie politicians are campaigning for safety improvements on some of the town’s busiest roads after recent incidents including vehicles crashing into traffic lights and the side of a house.
Local councillor Michael Coyle and Neil Gray MSP have written to police and council officials about the “ever-growing list of accidents across [the] Airdrie South ward”.
They highlighted a car crashing into traffic lights at a notorious bend on Cairnhill Road in December, and another coming off Main Street in Calderbank and crashing into a house during the morning rush hour the previous month.
Now the pair are asking for meetings to take place at both sites – as they say there has been a “catalogue of accidents” on the two busy roads and in the Chapelhall area which “puts pedestrians’ lives at risk”.
Councillor Coyle told how a traffic light pole of the puffin crossing at the bend on Cairnhill Road, near its junction with access lane Moss Road, was “wiped out” when a driver crashed into it in December.
He told Lanarkshire Live: “I’ve been fighting for years for speed restructions in that area; it’s a bad section at the old bridge and had that happened when there were kids waiting to cross into the primary schools campus, there could have been a fatality.
“This was the final straw and we need to get some action on that; I’d like to see more signage and flashing lights as drivers approach to alert them that there’s a crossing for children there.
“It’s the same in Calderbank and I think we need barriers along the main street to protect pedestrians there too.
“We can’t sit back and let accident numbers increase as sooner or later the worst will happen; those responsible for road safety must look seriously into the accidents at these areas and find better ways to ensure that pedestrians are safe at all times.”
Mr Gray added: “I quite often get emails from constituents regarding speeding, but recently I’m hearing more and more about certain areas, namely Cairnhill, Calderbank and Chapelhall.
“So far there has not been a fatality at the areas mentioned but I fear that could only be a matter of time given where they are, close to primary schools and on extremely busy roads.
“Driver responsibility is a huge part of it, but so is the responsibility of the council to make sure that any area that has numerous accidents at it is made as safe as possible; and Councillor Coyle and I have written to see what can be done at those blackspots.”
The politicians’ letter to council chief executive Des Murray and Airdrie police inspector Neil MacLeod outlines the incidents in Cairnhill and Calderbank, plus another on Lauchope Street in Chapelhall where they say “a young cyclist was clipped by a passing car”.
Stating their concern that worse accidents could be “just a matter of time”, they wrote: “All these roads see large numbers of children and adults walking along them during rush hour as they make their way to and from local schools and we would be horrified if any future incident resulted in injury or worse to vulnerable pedestrians.
“We would be grateful if you would meet us at the sites in question to see what can be done from both the council and police point of view to ensure that pedestrians are as safe as they can be on these stretches of road.”
North Lanarkshire Council confirmed that the Cairnhill traffic lights, damaged in mid-December, were repaired within two days; and that work on planned safety improvements in Calderbank is due to start at the end of the month.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: “The council conducted a detailed study of traffic conditions in Calderbank in response to a range of road safety concerns raised by the local community along the B802, [including] a public consultation in February and March 2021.
“All feedback was carefully considered prior to finalising the proposed improvements – introduction of an additional signal-controlled crossing north of Park Road, two new mini-roundabouts at the junctions of Main Street with Crowwood Road and Calder Street [and] improvements to the existing mini-roundabout; [and] further signage and road markings at the entrances to the village.
“It was originally anticipated that work would start last autumn; however, this was dependent on similar traffic calming works being completed in Chapelhall, as it was not considered appropriate to have significant disruption in both areas at the same time.
“We expect the safety improvement works to start in Calderbank towards the end of February; additional traffic surveys will be carried out when the work is complete to monitor the effectiveness of these measures and to determine whether additional improvements are necessary.”
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