Villagers have shared what it's like living next to a major road where they say there is an accident almost every week. Residents of Milton, near Tuxford, in north Nottinghamshire say its difficult living so close to the A1 as whenever an accident happens on the road the streams of traffic divert through the rural villages.
The stretch of the A1 at Markham Moor is known to be a hotspot for accidents, and residents in nearby villages have their own views of what the causes them, such as speeding drivers and the slip roads possibly being too short. Speaking of the accidents, construction worker, Trevor Hayes, 74, of Milton, said: "There has been a lot lately.
"The junctions down here are very new and the slip roads are not long enough and that's what is causing it. The slip roads are just too short. If one lorry is overtaking another as your coming up to where the junction is you have no chance of passing it. Then to put a Starbucks on there is horrendous."
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Although Markham Moor has services on both sides of the road, the Starbucks on the A1 northbound has its own entry and exit slip road to the business, which Trevor feels is to short. To the north of the services is the Elkesley accident reduction scheme, where both sides of the A1 are reduced to 50mph for a short period due to the number of accidents that have previously happened.
When asked if the scheme was helping reduce the accidents, Trevor replied: "No, as the problem is the cars slow down to 50 and the lorries don't bother so they stay on the outside lane all the time and that's a major problem." He stated that accidents are also caused in his view by "bad driving half the time".
Teacher, Audrey Ho, 50, of Milton, said she has noticed that they "do have a lot" of accidents on the A1. Audrey said: "I used to live in Retford and they would always divert them through." She explained that because of how rural the village is it can cause issues having traffic cutting through, and although she only uses the A1 "every now and then" she always checks the traffic when she drives over the bridge to avoid joining congestion.
She continued: "There is a lot of accidents here, and more recently we had a pipe burst which caused a delay on the A1 southbound." When asked what she thought could be the cause of all the accidents, Audrey replied: "I personally don't know as I've never seen one, just the result of one and the closures.
"It would be useful to find out and to see if something could be done. I just wonder if it is people speeding." A woman in her 60s who did not wish to be named said: "I really don't drive as much as I used to but I know something happens there regularly. I don't know what causes it but when something happens everyone decides to cut through the villages and it's awful."
Retired, Alick Jones, 80, has also shared his concerns. He said: "We can't move when it happens. It's really regular and it really is a pain because the thing is they come off the main road thinking that they have to put some speed on as you have to get where you are going or you're on a time limit, and they come down here at 60. We get them all coming through."
Alick explained before he leaves in his car he "always" checks the traffic in advance. Speaking of the accident reduction scheme, he added: "Nobody ever takes any notice of it as the lorries are always doing 59mph and don't follow the 50. I would think the 50 limit in actual fact is more dangerous than if it was 70, as the lorries never slow down.
"People who don't know the area would slow down as there's a 50mph limit." He added that despite there being a speed camera, nobody pays any attention to it as "it's been there so long" it doesn't appear to work anymore.
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