THE danger of a fatal crash at one of the borough’s most dangerous junctions has receded after residents won a seven-year campaign for traffic lights.
Dozens of accidents have been seen over the years by residents of South View Drive, near the four-way junction with George Lane and Chigwell Road in South Woodford.
The existing traffic lights can only be activated by pedestrians, leading frustrated drivers to leave their cars and activate them from the footpath in order to try and force a break in the traffic.
Only last year Redbridge Council identified 128 projects with a higher priority within a two-mile radius but the campaign has forced a rethink, and new lights at the junction are expected within the next two years.
Steve Ladle, 58, who lives on South View Drive, said: “I am delighted. As someone who has spent a lot of time writing to the council on this I am very glad that something is being done.
“It was only a short while ago that I walked past an accident there where a motorcyclist who had been hit was lying on the road waiting for emergency vehicles.
“I am glad that the council are listening to residents for once.
His wife, Muriel Ladle, 56, said: “It is great that something is going on to get this problem resolved. It is a dangerous junction and a serious accident is just waiting to happen there.
“I often take a long route round just to avoid it.”
Rohini Gupta, 26, of South View Drive was a passenger in a car that smashed through the fence of Holy Trinity Church after it was hit by another at the junction.
She said: “The problem is there is so much traffic and there is at least one blind spot.”
Roding ward councillor Ian Bond said: “The number of accidents there in the last year I think helped cabinet members decide to take action.
“It is excellent news. Residents have been campaigning on this for some time. It is just disappointing it has taken so long.”
The cabinet are due to approve the proposals on May 3.
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