WIRRAL: Calls for road safety on deadly Spital Road

Spital Road, which connects Bromborough and runs west towards Clatterbridge in Wirral, has become known for several serious accidents in recent years with people saying traffic has gotten worse and worse with more cars on the road than ever before.

In January 2020, Lisa Anderson’s dad was knocked over and killed by a police car near a major junction next to the Three Stags pub.

Later that year, Kelly Newell’s son Thomas Willemsen was seriously injured in an accident at that junction, with a petition at the time calling for the road to be made safer, getting more than 10,000 signatures. He is still receiving care more than two years later.

There are currently two petitions calling for the road to be made safer. One is calling for a crossing to be put in off Vanderbyl Avenue next to the Spital train station while another is related to the junction where Lisa’s father was killed and Thomas was injured.

The petition has been started again, with the help of Clatterbridge Conservative councillor Mary Jordan, as campaigners are disappointed Wirral Council hasn’t begun work on the junction near the Three Stags.

Since the accident with Thomas, people took part in a traffic survey under the supervision of a police traffic officer to collect evidence. This survey found an average of 2,200 vehicles pass through the junction between 8 and 9am in the morning.

Lisa’s dad was knocked over by a police car at a traffic light near the Three Stags while going for a newspaper as he did every day. He was later rushed to hospital where he died.

She said: “I absolutely am worried something like that may happen again. As one of the people doing the monitoring after what happened with Kelly at the crossing, I saw several near misses and people going through red lights.”

Wirral Council said money approved in March 2022 went towards a study to find the best solution for the road and a proposed scheme for the crossroads will be debated by councillors soon.

Kelly said: “I felt that this issue had been closed,” adding: “The issues with the traffic still stand true now. I am very disappointed. I get something like this doesn’t happen overnight but now we are in 2023.”

Cllr Mary Jordan said: “To my knowledge residents have been writing to the Council asking for action for at least 18 years. There is a crash at this junction nearly every week and a near miss on an almost daily basis. I have narrowly avoided several incidents myself.

“And what did the Council do? They commissioned consultants to do another report which took months and then another long period ‘to think about’ the findings. We understand that some action may be included in the programme for 2023-27. 2027 is too late, people are being injured now, does it take another fatality before they act?”

A Council spokesperson said: “A feasibility study to identify the best road safety solution for this location has been produced using the budget available in 2022/23. The proposed scheme for Spital crossroads will now be considered by the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee at their meeting next month – alongside schemes at other locations – for inclusion in the appropriate transport programmes to be delivered in 2023-24 and beyond.”

However Cllr Liz Grey was critical of comments by Conservative councillors about the junction accusing them of voting against road safety measures and the Liverpool City Region’s Vision Zero pledge to get to zero road deaths by 2040.

She said: “Some of us have been campaigning for better road safety for years and years and we didn’t seem to make much progress on the Wirral, we were a bit behind the rest of Merseyside.

“However we have had an inexcusable lack of funding from the government and it really drives me up the wall as they stand against road safety and stand up with the anti-cycling lobby. They will vote against it and then speak something passionately when a camera is on them. They shouldn’t have voted against it but they all voted against Vision Zero.”

Near Vanderbyl Avenue further along the road, those campaigning for a crossing hope to secure funding from the Liverpool City Region to make it safer, concerned that a serious accident is only a matter of time.

Ian Coulthard said Spital Road used to be a “quiet country lane” but “since lockdown, the traffic rate has just increased exponentially and the traffic is moving faster.”

At the end of Vanderbyl Avenue, the view of cars coming from the left is blocked by the railway bridge while on the other side, it is blocked by a bend in the road.

Ian said: “I continually have near misses. Depending on the speed of the traffic with something coming over the crest of the hill, you have particularly on the other side when you’re on the inside of the bend you have between four and six seconds to make your decision.”

He said when crossing with his wife who struggles to walk on her own, cars have sometimes had to make emergency stops because they can’t cross in time and some people were “scared to death” to cross the road.

Sarah Caines who likes to cycle with her children to school said: “I’m quite scared when I cross the road, particularly when I’ve got the boys.”

Cllr Percy, and Labour candidate Brenda Ashton are calling on the council to include plans for a crossing in the budget for the next financial year.

Brenda said given how close it is to the Dibbinsdale Wood and Wirral’s promotion of cycling and walking, “it seems a bit inconsistent to be not supporting something close to where we’re using one of our major sites. It’s used by lots of walkers.”

Cllr Sue Percy said the road was dangerous adding: “I don’t think we need a fatality for them to actually take notice because that’s when they do take notice. That’s my concern because whether it’s a young person, an elderly person or a middle aged person, it’s someone’s family.”