Petition calls for action on Walsgrave road after pub crash

[dutchman]

A petition urging the council to improve road safety after a car smashed into a pub has been signed by 133 people.



Councillor Ed Ruane launched the campaign last month after the accident at the Mount Pleasant pub, in Hinckley Road, Walsgrave.

The incident happened at 4.30am on November 24 and saw a black VW Golf left suspended in a crash barrier with its front smashed through the front window of the pub.

The pub is on the corner of a roundabout junction and it is not the first time a car has crashed into the building, with an earlier incident in 2006. There have been 16 accidents near the roundabout over the last six years.

Coun Ruane (Lab, Henley) said he believes something needs to be done to improve the traffic system in the area.

“I’m pleased we’ve had 133 people sign the petition to the council asking them to introduce traffic measures here,” he said.

“The first reaction I had from people when I mentioned the accident was ‘not again’. Something needs to be done about this junction.”

He sent his petition in to the council and has been told it will be passed on to the relevant cabinet member, Lindsley Harvard, the portfolio holder for city services.

Coun Ruane said one of his main concerns is the size of the roundabout which he believes is too small for how busy the junction is, with vehicles approaching the city from the motorway.

He said: “We put some petitions in the pub itself and in garages and the local post office. I’ve been talking to lots of people and they say they want a change.

“I’d like to thank everyone who has signed the petition.”

The window of the pub remains boarded up since the accident and the safety barrier in front of it has still not been replaced.

After the latest accident a council spokesman said the area was not considered to be a “blackspot”.

But Coun Ruane said just one accident is too many.

“We need something done quickly especially now the barrier hasn’t been replaced. It’s very dangerous,” he said.