AVERAGE speed cameras could be installed on the A574 Warrington Road, Glazebury, thanks to a commitment from Cheshire’s police and crime commissioner and Warrington Borough Council.
The high collision route in Glazebury has been identified as one of four roads across Cheshire to receive a cash injection from the police and local authority to make the road safer and reduce speed.
It’s part of PCC David Keane’s ongoing commitment to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on Cheshire’s roads. Over the next year, he has committed to investing more than £1 million to improve road safety.
Part of the ‘A’ road has been put forward by Warrington Borough Council to have the cameras installed after an assessment, which included looking at speeding and collision data and concerns raised by local residents.
Cheshire Police will now work with the council to produce detailed plans for an average speed scheme, subject to a feasibility study and site survey.
Mr Keane said: “Thanks to the hard work and dedication of Cheshire Police and local authorities to make our roads safer, the number of people killed or seriously injured on Cheshire’s roads has reduced by more than a third (38 per cent) over the last five years.
“However, one death on our roads is too many and I am committed to doing everything I can to tackle the five main causes of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, which includes speeding.
“We can save more lives by putting average speed schemes on high collision routes. We’ve seen these type of schemes work on other Cheshire roads including former high collision route the ‘Cat and Fiddle’ in Macclesfield which has seen a 90 per cent decrease in vehicles exceeding the speed limit since average speed cameras were installed.
“This is strong evidence that investing in road safety saves lives. I see the installation of these cameras on the A574 and three other Cheshire roads as the start of a journey to deliver my vision for an ‘average speed Cheshire’.
“This activity will send a clear message that dangerous, and potentially fatal, driving will not be tolerated in Cheshire.”
Warrington Borough Council’s cabinet member for transportation, highways and public realm, Cllr Hans Mundry, said: “This is a very important scheme that will ultimately protect lives.
“The data shows that by supporting more road safety initiatives like this, we can reduce the risk of people being seriously injured or even killed on the roads.
“Through strong partnership working across the council, PCC, Cheshire Road Safety Group and Cheshire Police, I am very pleased to see this most recent scheme come to fruition.”
*average speed cameras are located wherever traffic speed has been identified as raising safety concerns.
