The Bradley Stoke Journal

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has announced that a range of new measures are to be introduced to improve road safety on Bradley Stoke Way, in the vicinity of the Willow Brook Centre.

The news follows two serious accidents on this stretch of road this year alone, both of which involved children who were using informal crossing points between Savages Wood and the shopping centre.

A public petition for improved road safety measures launched after the most recent incident attracted 2,600 signatures in just six days after it was officially launched by concerned parents and residents on 15th September.

The planned improvements announced today include extending the existing 30mph speed limit zone and constructing a new light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

SGC officers and executive member for planning and transport Brian Allinson met with representatives from local schools on Tuesday 18th October to discuss concerns about road safety at the location and consider options for improvements.

The meeting heard that following the recent serious injury accident on Bradley Stoke Way in September, the council had implemented a number of measures to tackle traffic speed, including introducing additional road signs and markings and requesting police mobile speed enforcement.

Cllr Allinson also announced that a programme of work has now been drawn up to extend the area covered by the existing 30mph speed limit and to change two existing dropped kerb crossing points into one new light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

More: Proposed measures to be discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday 1st November »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has agreed to draft a proposal for a second toucan crossing on Bradley Stoke Way near the spot where a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured in a traffic accident three weeks ago.

The news is revealed in the latest newsletter of Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS), where the injured boy is a student in Year 9.

BSCS Headteacher Dave Baker reports that he attended a meeting this week with representatives of SGC, including Cllr Brian Allinson, the Council’s Executive Member for Transport, members of the police force and other local headteachers.

Mr Baker says that the safety of pedestrians crossing Bradley Stoke Way was the only agenda item at the meeting, which was arranged after headteachers, parents and other residents voiced concern that nothing seemed to have been done to improve road safety after an earlier accident at virtually the same location in February.

According to Mr Baker, the Council has agreed to prepare a proposal to:

• Add a second toucan crossing at the crossing point between the entrance to Savages Wood and the entrance to Bradley Stoke Way from Wheatfield Drive
• Reduce the speed limit to 30 mph from just north of the new crossing
• Install railings at the side of the road to discourage people from crossing anywhere other than the two designated crossing areas

More about the proposals that were discussed at the meeting »

A formal petition calling on South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) to implement a series of road safety improvement measures on Bradley Stoke Way is to be officially launched tomorrow (Saturday 15th).

The move comes after an accident on Friday 30th September at a recognised crossing point on the busy road, in which a 13-year-old boy, believed to have been riding a mini-scooter, was in collision with a motorcyclist. The boy suffered serious head, abdomen, arm and leg injuries and was taken to Frenchay Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition. The motorcyclist was also taken to hospital with a broken leg and a broken arm.

A similar accident in February this year, that occurred at an “informal crossing point” just 40m away from the site of the most recent incident, left a 10-year-old cyclist with life changing injuries after he was in collision with a car.

Both of the incidents occurred in the area where Bradley Stoke Way changes from dual to single carriageway, just north of the Willow Brook Centre.

Organised by a group of concerned parents and residents, the petition calls on the Council to install a new ‘raised table’ Toucan crossing, to replace the two drop kerb uncontrolled crossing points where the recent accidents have occurred. The group is also demanding that the dual carriageway stretch of Bradley Stoke Way to be converted to single lane traffic, the introduction of  a 30mph speed limit and the installation of improved warning signage and over-speed indicators.

The petition, which has been running online since Monday 10th October, will be officially launched at the Willow Brook Centre at 12 noon on Saturday. Residents will be given the chance to sign up on the day and will also be able to take away a signature form to allow them to collect further signatures. [A signature form can also be download here]

Under SGC’s Petitions Scheme, if the petition is able to attract 2,500 signatures, the Council will be forced to debate the matter at a meeting of its Full Council.

SGC: Speed monitoring exercise was underway at the time of the second accident »

South Gloucestershire Council has opened a public consultation on proposed casualty reduction measures for the Patchway Brook Roundabout on Bradley Stoke Way (adjacent to the Aldi store).

The purpose of the scheme is to reduce the number of personal injury accidents involving cyclists and motorcyclists at the roundabout, which joins Bradley Stoke Way, Pear Tree Road, Brook Way and Bowsland Way.

For the three year period 2008 to 2010, eight personal injury accidents were reported to the police as having occurred at the roundabout. Of the eight accidents, seven involved either a cyclist or motorcyclist. Five of the accidents involving a two-wheeled vehicle occurred when a car driver either entered or exited from the roundabout and collided with a cyclist or motorcyclist travelling around the roundabout.

The following measures, designed to reduce accidents involving two-wheeled vehicles, are proposed under the scheme:

• Reducing the width of the circulatory carriageway around the roundabout whilst retaining two traffic lanes around the roundabout;
• Installing cycle symbols at the entrances to the roundabout to remind drivers to look out for cyclists;
• Installing an additional yellow box marking at the exit to Brook Way.

Read on for more details of the consultation process »

Work to install a new raised table pedestrian crossing on Brook Way, close to the mini-roundabout at the junction with Wheatfield Drive, is set to commence on Monday (20th June).

The work to install a 75mm high raised table across the full width of the road and widen the island and footway approaches to the crossing could last until Friday 1st July, according to information published in South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) weekly Road Report.

A pair of ‘children going to school’ warning signs will also be installed on Brook Way (near Brackendene and Dewfalls Drive) as part of the scheme.

The Council warns that temporary two-way traffic signals will be used during the installation work.

The crossing upgrade was first proposed following a a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who had complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way at peak hours.

In December 2009, the Southern Brooks Area Forum agreed to meet the £20,000 cost of the work and a public consultation on the proposals followed in October 2010.

Local politicians later squabbled over who should take credit for winning funding for the project, with the Liberal Democrats’ Jon Williams claiming the Tories were trying to “re-write history”, countered by Brian Allinson saying that Cllr Williams’ “pram [was] increasingly lacking toys”.

Read on for details of how objections have delayed the project »