'We'll keep fighting to make road safe'
COMMUNITY leaders will continue their campaign for safety measures on a key road despite being told the stretch doesn't need them.
Members of Endon with Stanley Parish Council want to increase the length of the double white lines along the A53 after more than 20 collisions in recent years.
However, highways officials say the road does not meet the criteria for work to be carried out.
The long-running fight to secure roughly 70 extra yards of double white lines follows a string of collisions on the approach to Endon.
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Figures compiled by Staffordshire County Council – which governs the road – have revealed the stretch has seen more than 20 collisions between 2006 and 2011.
Parish councillor Alan Williamson claims the area saw no collisions while work on overhead cables was carried out this year.
He said: "For six months there were signs up telling motorists they could not overtake due to the works that were going on in the area and in that time there were no collisions."
Campaigners say a blind spot exists on the bend close to the Dunwood Lane turn-off.
Councillor Williamson added: "A vehicle coming from Leek will disappear in the blind spot and so we want the lines extending by about 70 yards, which isn't a massive amount.
"When you reach the A53 from Endon you may have been following slower moving traffic and it is a chance to overtake but the bend is blind."
Members were hoping to team up with councillors at nearby Longsdon. However, that parish council has turned down a request for meetings over the issue, claiming the report from highways officials has put an end to the matter.
Councillor John Sambrook, who is chairman of Endon with Stanley, said: "There have been plenty of near-misses on the stretch and we want to avoid there being some serious collisions.
"The county council has done a survey and it says the road does not meet the correct criteria.
"This is something that has been going on for a number of years now."
Lines to prevent motorists from overtaking currently run from the boundary to Endon before breaking off ahead of more restrictions close to Dunwood Lane.
County councillor Christina Jebb, who is also a member of Endon Parish Council, said: "The parish council believes this is a hazard for anyone emerging from a side lane which goes to the sewage works from traffic which may be overtaking.
"The landowner has also done work to improve visibility by removing hedgerows and trees but some councillors remain concerned."
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