COUNCILLORS will consider a raft of safety measures on a busy road, just days after one of the men involved in a fatal crash pleaded guilty to death by dangerous driving.
Members of Redbridge's Area 1 Committee will discuss the plans to make Aldersbrook Road in Wanstead, near the junction with Harpenden Road, safer for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists at a meeting next Monday (July 26).
Wasim Butt and Najib Karim, both 18, were killed when the black Lexus in which they were passengers hit a tree in on the road, near the junction with Herongate Road, just yards away from the crossing, in the early hours of June 14 last year.
Councillors will consider plans to turn the existing Pelican crossing into a Toucan crossing, which will also be widened, as well as a number of other measures.
They include narrowing the road either side of the crossing along a 26-yard stretch, the laying of anti-skid road markings either side of the crossing, the removal of a tree to aid visibility, and improving street lighting.
On Monday, 20-year-old Nabeal Javeed from East Ham, who was driving one of the cars involved in the crash, pleaded guilty to two counts of death by careless driving and two counts of causing death while having no insurance shortly, before his trial was to begin.
At a hearing in February, the driver of the Lexus, 20-year-old Zubair Dawood of Bristol Road in Forest Gate, pleaded guilty to two counts of death by dangerous driving.
Residents on the busy road in which the crash occurred said they were worried about the speed drivers travel, and that something should be done to prevent another serious accident.
Bridget Holland, 45, said: “Down at the junction with Blake Hall Road they're doing a lot of work to the road, and they've actually widened the pavement.
“I don't what good that's going to do, I think that with the speed people travel, it's a recipe for an accident.
“I think there should maybe be more zebra crossings for pedestrians as well, because there's a large gap between the two that are there now.”
Helen McGoldrick, 32, said: “I'm just learning to drive and I've notice people going far too fast along here, and it's only a 30mph road.
“There's a school just up the road and there are always children here using the flats. Often people park up on the verge and then kids have to step out from between parked cars, and they often just run out.”
The work is part of the Olympic Cycle Route Enhancement Project and, if approved, would funded entirely by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA).
A Redbridge Council spokeswoman said: “Redbridge is currently working on proposals for improving road safety in the vicinity of Aldersbrook Road/Blake Hall Road.
“We monitor personal injury accidents across the borough annually and promote safety schemes for those locations with the most serious problems, delivering as many as possible within the resources made available for such works.”
Javeed and Dawood are due to be sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on September 6.
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