Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) sees accidents increase and residents’ frustration mount as local road improvement safety schemes, which were funded and should have been implemented by March this year, have been blocked by the Conservative administration at Essex County Council.
R4U’s Cllr Paul Gadd, Essex County Councillor for Saffron Walden, said “To save money at financially troubled Essex County Council, the Conservative administration has blocked many needed highways improvement schemes in Uttlesford, and as a result they have directly put lives at risk. For example, at the request of Elmdon Parish Council, I proposed a scheme to make the crossroads safe on Quicksett Rd, Elmdon, where there have now been some 10 accidents in the last 10 months. The scheme was already designed and ready to be installed, and then Essex County Council put it on hold. Since then, there have been 2 further accidents at the junction, thankfully none of them fatal. This and all other proposed road schemes for Uttlesford were stopped by ECC in March this year. Conservative Cllr Ray Gooding, who chairs ECC’s Uttlesford Local Highway Panel which oversees these things, has halted any work and refused to meet us to allow these important highways improvement programmes to proceed.”
Quicksett Rd crossroads in Elmdon has become an accident hotspot since ECC have blocked repainting the road markings.
Cllr Gadd continued “Uttlesford residents pay ECC £40m a year in council taxes to provide services such as maintaining our roads. Good road markings are the most basic safety feature – and they are not costly. Cllr Gooding has failed to convene a Highways Panel meeting for almost 6 months, and road improvements in Uttlesford have been frozen by him until he does. He is not doing his job, and so we have no confidence in him. We’ve written to ECC to ask them to replace him with a chair who is prepared to work to protect residents. Yet again we can see how vital it is to have a voice that is independent of Westminster standing up for our district.”
There have been 10 accidents in 10 months since the road markings have worn