The County Council has decided to keep the A40/Collinwood Road junction closed. The junction was closed from May 2012 on a trial basis but the decision has been made to close it permanently.

In the run-up the decision on November 21st, your local Labour Councillors Dee Sinclair, Laurence Baxter and Glynis Philips carried out a survey in Risinghurst which received an incredible 24% response rate.

Survey

Our survey asked people whether they prefer the junction open or closed, or whether they prefer an alternate option. Councillor Dee Sinclair has long campaigned for the junction to have traffic lights, and the results of the survey suggest that this is the most preferred option of residents, with over 50% saying this was their most preferred solution. Dee said “The responses are reassuring, they support our eleven year campaign to make this a safe junction with traffic lights.”

Traffic lights wanted

This shows that the majority of residents are on board with Labour’s 10-year campaign for the junction to have traffic lights. The County Council presented the decision as either fully open or closed, but 79% of respondants to the survey prefer another solution such as opening the junction with traffic lights or at least providing a pedestrian crossing. County Councillor Glynis Philips said “It is clear what most people want, but the Tory-controlled County Council didn’t listen to local residents. Labour is.”

Next steps

Your local councillors will keep up the pressure on the County Council to make the junction safer. We are currently exploringg potential sources of funding for traffic lights, and will continue to canvass the views of local residents on this important issue.