[FEBRUARY 1999]
SAFER AT LAST
After a long campaign by local residents work could
begin this month on making Earlsdon Avenue South safer.
For nearly three years a group of people living on or near Earlsdon Avenue has been
battling to slow down the traffic. Following a petition to the City Council, a survey
carried out in August 1996 showed that half the vehicles were breaking the 30mph speed
limit and some were travelling at up to 60mph.
As petition organiser Barbara Walters said at the time:
"It is purely a matter of luck rather than judgement that several fatalities have
not already occurred".
Since then there have been several accidents for which speed was to blame: in September
1997 there was an accident involving a motorcyclist, last June a car crashed into the
front of a house after hitting a tree on the opposite side of the road and in August a
resident was knocked down on the pedestrian crossing by the City Arms.
 Now,
thanks to pressure from residents and tireless work by Ward Councillor Lindsley
Harvard the City Council has finally agreed that Earlsdon Avenue South is a
priority for safety improvements.
A £9,000 scheme has been put forward for residents to
consider: it includes moving 30mph speed limit signs away from the Kenilworth Road
junction, painting the road surface red to highlight the speed limit, creating a new
central refuge and widening the footpath south of the junction with Styvechale
Avenue to achieve a 'gateway' effect along with central cross-hatching to reduce
the road width.
Councillor Harvard told ECHO:
"It's been a long battle to get these improvements and
I hope that they will solve the problem. I'm sure the residents will be very pleased that
at last their campaign has been successful".
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