Highways Agency - Safe roads, Reliable journeys, Informed travellers

The Project

A traffic study was carried out in 2005 and it was found that during a period of 5 years a total of 8 personal injury accidents occurred at the site of which 2 were serious, qualifying the junction as a collision cluster site. This junction was found to be typical of a rural major/minor junction with all collisions associated with right turn movements.

The Highways Agency published Draft Orders under the Highways Act 1980 on 15th October 2009. These sought the powers necessary to acquire the land and build the scheme. The publication date started a 6 week objection period to the Orders.

Following a review to monitor the safety and performance of the Trunk Road network, we have identified that the accident rate at Stapleton Crossroads has fallen in recent years, such that the investment required would be better spend at other locations on the Area 9 Network.  There is no clear reason for this fall, so we will, of course, continue to monitor the situation.

However, as part of our network management duties, we have introduced a new lower speed limit north of Dorrington that includes Stapleton Crossroads, and in 2009 we applied a surface dressing course to this part of the A49 to ensure that skid resistance is maintained at or above the desirable levels.  We anticipate that these measures will also contribute to maintaining this reduced accident level.

In consequence, the Highways Agency has therefore decided not to pursue the Stapleton Crossroads Orders unless and until there is clear evidence of an ongoing safety issue.