Road probe at A30 crash junction
HIGHWAYS experts have promised to investigate a stretch of the A30 after a resident's plea to stop smashes at a junction.
Pierre Jordaan's call for action followed the latest collision at the junction between Cherry Orchard Lane and the Sherborne Causeway stretch of the A30 west of Shaftesbury.
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Damaged cars at Friday's collision.
He said Friday morning's collision was the latest in a series going back many years.
He blames the speed of traffic on the straight part of the A30 plus the time taken for traffic using the junction or residents' own drives as the cause.
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Mr Jordaan said: "There are five or six collisions a year here and Friday's was the third serious one this year.
"In the past few years we've had at least three emergency helicopter evacuations.
"I often hear the noise and think there's another one. We have ambulances and police cars and tow-away vehicles here dealing with it - it's all public expense.
"The main problem is traffic hurtling along this road because it's one of the few straight sections of the A30.
"As it is so wide, it gives a false sense of security when motorists round the bends at either end and accelerate.
"People use it like a dragster track.
"But Cherry Orchard Lane is narrow and takes a lot of traffic and it is slow getting in and out.
"I've lived here for six years and I've often had fast traffic behind me when I have to slow down to turn into my house."
He said a visitor to his home had been seriously injured when a vehicle ran into the back of his car as he was preparing to turn off the main road.
Mr Jordaan, an architect, called for a roundabout at the junction and he wanted to see speed reduced along Sherborne Causeway.
He added: "There has been talk of a roundabout but it's never happened."
Andrew Brown, traffic engineering manager at Dorset County Council, said: "We will investigate this particular stretch of the A30 to see if anything can be done to make it safer.
"We will look at accident records and what type of accidents have occurred and assess whether restrictions would make a difference."
A Dorset Police spokesman said the collision on Friday involved a silver Vauxhall Zafira registered to a Shaftesbury woman, a black Peugeot 307 registered to a woman from Leicestershire and a red Peugeot 406 registered to a Gillingham woman.
He said there were no serious injuries but a one year-old child was taken to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester as a precaution.
Dee Adcock
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