Letter to Ian Taylor MP about Dangerous Road Junction at Walton Road/Molesey Road, West Molesey

Dear Mr Taylor

Dangerous Road Junction at Walton Road/Molesey Road, West Molesey

Thank you for copying me the letter dated 24 August that you received from Mr F R Apicella at Surrey County Council (SCC) about the safety improvements at this junction. Unfortunately, however, it does not address our key safety concerns.

It is of course welcome that SCC has now installed a number of replacement and additional signs on the approach to the junction from the east (from Molesey), and at the junction itself, and that the white line markings have been refreshed. The main safety issue, however, has always been the lack of visibility for drivers travelling south towards the junction from the direction of Walton (it is the drivers coming along this road that must give way), not those approaching from the east and west.

The junction is not easily visible to drivers approaching from the direction of Walton until they are within a few feet of it, and visibility on both sides of the road remains seriously obscured by tree growth. The only visible warning is a “Give Way” sign at the junction itself, and although this has been replaced with a new sign, tree growth obscures it until drivers are virtually at the junction. You will recall that there is also a slight rise and dip in the level of the road, which can give the impression, that the road simply carries straight on.

As I explained in my initial letter, there are two other minor signs on the approach to the junction from the direction of Walton, but these are completely obscured by trees, and would in any case be inadequate. There are still no “Crossroads”, “Stop”, or “Give Way Ahead” signs to warn drivers approaching the junction. The MRA remains strongly of the view that additional warning signs are urgently required, and we had understood that these would form part of the improvements being undertaken, since I had been advised previously that the Council considered that advance warning of the “Give Way” here was justified.

Furthermore, I cannot understand why the Council has asked its maintenance team to defer the urgent action to attend to the overgrowth from the trees until the winter, when visibility will actually be improved (because leaves will have fallen off the trees).

I have copied this letter to Mr Apicella, and to our local SCC Councillor, Ernest Mallett, and hope that SCC will now be able to arrange for these outstanding measures to improve safety at the junction to be completed as a matter of urgency.

I would like to thank you for your assistance in progressing this, and would be very happy to provide more information, or to meet to discuss, if that would be helpful.

Yours Sincerely

Michael Axton

Published on Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
in General Interest