SAFETY measures installed at a notoriously dangerous junction do not go far enough residents living nearby have claimed.
Redbridge Council’s area two committee is meeting on Tuesday to decide whether any new money should be spent to improve safety at the junction of Epping New Road and Woodford Green High Road.
The site has been the scene of numerous accidents in recent years and including a crash in October 2008 which killed 33 -year-old Waltham Abbey motorcyclist Shane Stanfield.
Since that accident, Redbridge Council has installed additional 30mph and school signs, and extra road markings but residents who spoke to the Guardian insist that more should be done.
Sue Ioannou of The Dell said: “They probably need to install traffic lights. It's a bit sad but if that's what it takes to saves lives. When I cross Epping New Road I'm always very careful so I think lights would be an answer.
“Cars come roaring along so when you're coming out sometimes it's dangerous. There's been a few accidents since I've been here.”
A nearby neighbour, in The Dell, who did not want to be named said: “I think it needs extra measures without a shadow of a doubt. It's ridiculous. There's so many accidents there, but the minor ones don't get reported.
“There's a massive school opposite and one side of the road is residential. You get people doing 70mph past this junction. They've got to have another speed camera there. At the moment there's nothing to stop people doing that.”
Roger Davis, of Woodford Green High Road, said traffic lights at the junction were not the answer.
He added: “There's been a lot of accidents, but you get them at a lot of junctions. I've objected to traffic lights. I don't think it would solve anything. The problems have been people crossing Epping New Road. I suggested a mini-roundabout.”
Redbridge Council has said improved street lighting and an enlarged traffic island in Buckhurst Hill High Road to narrow the highway will be in place by the end of the financial year.
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