By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Serious concerns have been raised about a railway bridge on the A48 which is a “fatality waiting to happen” after several crashes led to one resident having to demolish their garage.
More than 30 people turned up to a public meeting at Westbury-on-Severn Parish Hall last night (July 15) to call for action to deal with the hazard.
The height of the bridge means tall vehicles such as buses or lorries have to move into the centre of the carriageway to go under it.
However, this has led to many collisions over the years and countless near misses, according to residents.
The meeting heard how one woman’s garage was hit so many times they had to have it demolished.
Residents said vehicles often travel well above the 50mph speed limit when coming from Jordan Hill and they cannot see what is coming from the other side of the bridge.
“When there’s someone coming through, maybe a bus, they have got from the top of the hill to the bottom to brake – and at 60mph or 50mph that’s too short a distance and they end up hitting each other going through that bridge.
“You’re lucky you haven’t had two HGVs coming at the same time because they can’t see each other coming from both sides of that bridge.”
A resident, who has lived next to the railway bridge for seven years, said: “On 24 occasions in that seven years, I have stood in that road and directed traffic and assisted with collisions,” she said.
“The speed limit is the issue. There’s nothing we can do about incompetent drivers who go at the maximum of 50mph.
“You’ve got a double blind bend with a low bridge that you can’t see until you are outside of our houses.
“By that time you’ve already got a double decker bus or an HGV coming under the bridge in the central lane.
“You then have to slam on the brakes. On three occasions they haven’t made it and ended up in what used to be our garage.
“The garage has now had to be demolished because of the damage.”
And bus driver Daniel Slattery spoke of his experience along that stretch of the A48.
“When we’re going under the bridge towards Elton Corner, all of us drivers fear and worry about the passengers we have on the bus,” he said.
“We clearly cannot see what is coming before us until they are at our feet. There are near misses every day.”
His colleague, who also spoke at the meeting, said on 174 times he has driven the bus under the bridge there have been 158 near misses.
Another resident asked if it would take a death before anything is done there. Several villagers said they would like to see the 30mph speed limit extended from the village to Jordan Hill.
Highways officers said any such measure would cost around £15,000 for the works and traffic regulation order required.
They also said alternatives such as movement activated signs for HGVs and buses on the bridge would need permission from Network Rail, who declined an invitation to attend the meeting.
David Holland, road safety and traffic management officer with Gloucestershire Constabulary, told the meeting they would be willing to conduct a speed survey near the bridge.
And Chris Thompson, road safety auditor at Gloucestershire County Council, said he would look into the idea of advisory 30mph speed limit warning sides either side of the bridge.
“Let me go away and do that and let us go away and get the speed data and we will respond to the council once we’ve done all of that,” he said.
“We are on your side, we really are. We are just constrained by the resources that are available to us which is frustrating.
Councillor Simon Phelps said they appreciated their attendance and he hopes they can keep a channel of communication open with them.
“Once you’ve done some of these checks on the speed, perhaps you would be prepared to speak to us at a parish council meeting,” he said.
County highways cabinet member Joe Harris (LD, Cirencester Park) said before the meeting they have looked into safety concerns raised by local residents and carried out a road safety audit.
“As a result, we’ve already made some improvements, like repainting road markings and putting up new signs on both sides of the bridge, which is owned by Network Rail.”
A spokesperson for Network Rail said: “We aren’t currently planning any work at or near Jordan Hill bridge. Should local residents have concerns related to the structure, they can contact our 24-hour helpline on 03457 11 41 41.”