Closed
Road marking causing near misses
Reported via desktop in the Road markings (NH) category anonymously at 15:26, Fri 30 July 2021
Sent to National Highways less than a minute later. FixMyStreet ref: 2902618.
Dear Sirs
Left lane is now a left filter but road markings show straight ahead. As a regular road user I have a near collision every time I try to follow the new layout as left hand lane traffic s continuing to go straight rather than filter left. Signage is very very poor - need to put signs up signalling changes to road layout much further back to hopefully get traffic into correct lanes.
The change of layout making left lane a filter to A1 north makes no sense given 90% of traffic goes straight on at this junction. Very poor decision made by planners and inevitable will lead to collision and injuries. The very slow reaction given the stream of reports on this issue makes your team culpable for the injuries caused.
I am sure I will also receive your cut and paste response saying you'll assess safety in time but you may be too late.
Updates
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Dear Sir/Madam
Thank you for contacting us via Fix My Street regarding the road markings at Spittals Interchange.
We appreciate you providing feedback and reporting the incidents you’ve experienced around the new layout on the approach to Spittals Interchange. We recognise that the temporary measures we put in place have caused some confusion and may not have been clear.
On Wednesday, 21 July, we put additional temporary signs in place to support the current road markings and made more changes to the directional sign already there. We’re finishing the work by installing lane markings on the roundabout and the straight ahead arrow in the inside lane will be removed. The changes we’re making at the junction are a result of a design to make sure the correct destination signs are in place for the A1307 and A141. In order to manage the traffic, rather than closing the junction completely, we’ve done the work in phases around the roundabout. The road marking layout on the eastbound approach to Spittals is the last phase of this work. Lane 1 is now designed to be a dedicated left hand filter lane, solely intended for drivers wishing to exit Spittals roundabout and head northbound along the A1307 towards the A1M. Lanes 2 and 3 are for drivers continuing to travel on the A141 eastbound, or exiting Spittals roundabout to head southbound along the A1307. As with any changes to the road layout on our SRN, we have installed temporary signs on the approach to Spittals roundabout, advising that the road layout has changed. As a temporary solution, we’ve also masked off the incorrect information on the approaching signs while replacement signs are being obtained. This ensures that the information on the signs matches the road markings on the approach to the roundabout, which should make it clear for approaching drivers which lane to take for their journey.
Unfortunately, we are unable to control driver behaviour, but recommend that if you witness any dangerous driving to report it to your local police. Thank you again for reporting your concerns and I hope you find my reply reassuring. If you would like any additional information, please feel free to contact us again.
Kind regards
Highways England
State changed to: Closed
Posted anonymously at 14:50, Tue 3 August 2021
This report is now closed to updates from the public. You can make a new report in the same location.