Some 240 people have signed a petition to ask for action to be taken after two accidents in a matter of days where a new ‘raised concrete island’ has been installed on a Broadstairs road.
The traffic calming measures have been installed in St Peters Park Road with a priority give-way arrangement using kerb buildouts outside St Joseph’s Primary School.
Kent County Council says the measures were taken after investigation concluded many of the collisions were caused by the speed of traffic on the stretch.
But at the end of last month a car hit a kerb build out with the driver saying it was not visible. A passenger suffered whiplash injuries. The incident happened just five minutes after another car had driven over the island, knocking the two bollards off. The bollards were laying in the road along with the other car’s number and number plate.
Yesterday (March 2) a motorcyclist returning from work in foggy conditions crashed into the build out and was taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford. The rider had hurt his knee but was mainly shaken up by the incident. He is now home and has been advised to rest for a few days.
An ambulance service spokesperson said: “We were called shortly before 9.45pm yesterday to St Peter’s Road, Broadstairs, to reports of a collision involving a motorbike. One ambulance crew attended the scene and the motorcyclist was assessed and treated at the scene for injuries including a leg injury before being taken to William Harvey Hospital in Ashford.”
The man was helped by residents, including Chris Joy who has launched the petition. An off-duty nurse and off-duty policeman also helped at the scene and South East Coast Ambulance Service attended.
Some residents say the measures are poorly lit and signed and are asking for this to be addressed. There are also calls for the islands to be removed entirely.
Mr Joy said: “He was laid out on the floor, shook up and injured due to the new traffic calming measures which are basically invisible at night. I’ve put a petition up to get some proper signage and lighting there before another person gets hurt.”
In his petition Mr Joy says: “This has been installed without adequate indication or notification to the local residents and has shown to be a public safety hazard on two occasions a couple of weeks since it has been installed.
“Myself and several other members of public helped the man who had hit the concrete traffic give way zone and flew over his handle bars. From the street, even a few metres away the visibility of this object is very difficult to see especially in the dark and down that badly lit road. I have heard on social media that a car also ripped it front end out because the driver couldn’t see the raised concrete.”
Mr Joy has written to Kent and Thanet councils and Thanet MPs Craig Mackinlay and Sir Roger Gale.
A response from Mr Mackinlay says the MP will take the matter up with the county council. He has also alerted Broadstairs county councillor Ros Binks.
A Kent County Council spokesperson said: “The road already has streetlights and as part of the scheme the lighting in the area was upgraded with new lanterns.
“Reflective bollards are on order and cones have been placed on the islands until the bollards have been delivered and installed.”
Mr Joy disputes this saying adequate lighting may well have prevented the two accidents. He added: “KCC should have ordered and received the (reflective) materials before installing the raised concrete section.”
There was a really bad crash along this stretch of road about five years ago that parts of the car involved ended up in peoples gardens , smashing house windows and destroying a parked bmw on a house owners drive !
A speed limit of 20, with a speed camera, for this stretch of road in front of the school would have been much safer. The raised kerb starts some distance from the pavement into the road – presumably leaving room on the inside of the road for cyclists – but watching the cyclists there over the last couple of days has shown they don’t know whether to ride inside it or outside. Those cyclists riding inside then shoot out in front of the cars causing another accident risk.
As has been proven, this ill thought out ‘traffic calming’ scheme iwas an accident waiting to happen!
KCC should be prosecuted for obstructing the highways with these dangerous stupid obstructions. As it’s been shown already they are dangerous and cause accidents. Just like the Smart motorways that have lead to people being killed.
I agree completely!
Another stupid idea from kcc not long ago last year they did another stupid thing down albion road broadstairs similar calming measures putting in a bus gate that got removed again because of accidents. And secondly worse still they marked all the wrong signage at the at peters roundabout last year almost resulting in mutible crashes i phoned kcc and got the arrows put back as before. that was very distresing
Wow, I love it, that thing reminds me of the unlit unmarked 4th corner at the Nuremberg circuit. That thing is a death trap as well. Good work TDC! Can you install a wheel of death on the Thanet Way please or a 360 loop? Let’s go!
In what way do you think TDC has anything to do with these silly death traps? This is all down to KCC.
They could always get Tiger Woods to try out these new road lay-outs
He not too good on straight roads he’s inclined to drive into a bunker but I’m sure he would be fine driving around all the obstructions and get to a pot hole in one in no time.
You really do have to ask, what qualifications do you need to design road improvements? Whatever they are you’d have to further ask, Are they fit for purpose or do thoes at KCC not have them? Numpties seem to have been let loose with the Duplo kit.
Even more comical is that until a piece of road has had a series of accidents KCC won’t look at it. Even badly done changes won’t be reconsidered.
I drove down this road last night in the thick fog and it was very difficult to see the islands. Luckily I already knew they were there but I did spare a thought for anyone unaware of them. I hope the motorcyclist is ok.
It really does beg the question as to which numpty in the Traffic Department thought it was a good idea to plant this unmarked island in the middle of the carriageway ? ? ?
No road markings and no bollards to tell you which way to go round it.
I would be inclined to drive past it to the left (albeit on the pavement) rather than attempt to pass it on the right and into the path of oncoming traffic.
I have not seen such a thing in the Highway Code or any instruction on how to proceed – can anybody help ?
I work as a highways engineer and traffic consultant and I saw this work taking place last week and instantly thought how it could have got past a road safety audit, lo and behold i see this article today!
Have a look of the junction ( if you ever pass by) of Dalby Square with ethelbert by the cafe. The way the parking in front of the bowling alley has been done means that there’s often no visibility splay in direction of the crossing plus the corner has a sharp radius which means you need to wait for both ways to be clear to exit when turning left.
Hopefully those involved in the accidents will take action against KCC.
Funny enough i’m driving that way in the next half hour i’ll take a look.
After examining the photo further I have spotted a few other issues. The reinstatement around the island (tarmac) is less than 250mm which is a surfacing defect, I have no idea what plant they used to compact it at that angle probably a wacker plate and not a vibrating roller, taxpayers will no doubt pay KCC again to put it right next year.
Also i’m not convinced there is correct visibility for a give and take method of traffic control and also the MSA count on this road is above the maximum criteria for a give and take or priority permittable. That and no signs advising who has priority as per the TSRGD, the lack of lighting, the lack of consideration for driver desire lines on a road this busy.
I’ve asked KCC for information on the traffic orders and road safety audits but here’s betting that it doesn’t exist.
needs fatal accidents before cameras installed and this is the result as no fatalities recorded
I can see a corporate manslaughter case coming KCC’s way. The level of abject stupidity in local and central government is astounding!
Are you supposed to straddle the mid carriageway pavement, or drive around it? Does this design even appear in the highway code?
Perhaps a freedom of information request should be made to KCC to see who the responsible officers are that signed off on this, in readiness for the poor misfortunates that have been (and no doubt will be) injured, so that private prosecutions can be taken out before KKC do a cover-up.
There’s so much of this going on with roads in the last few years. The ramps they have put up in Acol for example, some you can no longer drive over them at 30mph, the given speed limit. Not to mention the cobbles in the middle of the road, that you are supposed drive around in to the path of oncoming traffic on a brow, on a corner.
It amounts to causing an obstruction! Idiots!
But it must be said that the posted limit is a maximum not a goal and drivers should drive according to the situation , so the road calming in Acol is not so bad.
All you snowflakes need to understand… The road isn’t the problem, it’s the drivers.
I am wondering if you have driven down this road, since they have put these silly islands in?
Yep the drivers that didn’t use the road/drive correctly before the “improvement”, the island is just a dangerous hazard, how on earth is anyone going to know its there, see it on a dark wet night, be able to understand if a cyclist seems to suddenly swerve. A very busy road at times this will cause chaos in busy periods.
It might be suitable with decent signage, road markings and lighting , its almost as if its been left half done , ready to cause accidents , which it has. Be interesting to hear who signed it off as complete and removed any traffic control in place whilst works were being done.
If that makes me a snowflake then so be it.
It beggars belief that these idiotic and dangerous designs are allowed to go ahead! As previous comments have said, I would like to know who has signed these off. I hope the two who suffered an accident will be suing KCC.
Whilst the need to ensure road safety outside the school is commendable, the action taken is a madness. Looking at the photo there are no advance warning signs, and as already stated by others the road hazard does not have any indication to make oncoming motorists aware that it is there. Coming soon after a crossing point does not help either.
Makes me wonder who is responsible for signing off these works, what checks for road safety did they make, and was it a rush job to use up available funds before the end of the financial year? P45’s would be an appropriate next step, together with the early removal of this danger on the public highway. Safety schemes are not supposed to be dangerous.
P45 in the public sector , Grenfell resulted in a terrible death toll and no one lost their job. East Kent Housing at least had the good grace to get rid of one chap over the gas/ heating debacle ( iirc) but probably had more to do with him previously employed by Kensington andChelsea and being involved with work at Grenfell.
KCC have done this before when putting a central island in place in Northdown Park Avenue, Margate. The island suddenly appeared in the road before any reflective boards, lighting and white lines were put down, causing another hazzard near the new Mulberry Place housing estate. It was several weeks before made safe.
These raised islands are a dangerous hazzard in the middle of a lane. The LED lighting all over Thanet is inadequate at the best of times and not half as bright as the older HPS lamps which are preferred around the world for reliability and performance. I don’t understand how anyone in their right mind can sanction putting these up without any other measure taken to safeguard the road users. All tarmac the same colour as the road (Black). There should be white lines and chevrons with lighting and warning signs put up first so when the island is made everything is in place. To even speak to a reporter and try and claim the lighting is good enough knowing they have done none of the other things the operator/inspector needs dismissing.
I hope this has now been remedied for safety.
Whoever would come and make a road unsafe saying it is for safety reasons? Madness indeed at KCC Highways. My advice to those who have crashed into it and been injured is to Sue them.
To be fair , Yes more lighting should be instaled and warnings before for about a year. One has to look on both sides here , the safety of people , children , some disalbled , the residents , and the speeding drivers who have driven too fast along that road for years , there is nothing there well now there is. I was on my way to a boot fair years ago when they put a new roundabout in on the way to Dover , having driven the road for many years it was not there the week before and I nearly ended up on top of it 50mph. Good luck to anyone who wants to sue the council , its a 20mph speed limit. Insurance claim reads who was at fault well council they stuck this thing in my way an I not have time to stop , my lights are not good nor is my eyesite and was sending a text at the time.
Whoever passed this stupid set up should be held responsible when the inevitable death occurs , ridiculous beyond belief!!!!
If they stopped parents and carers parking outside the school would cause less of a problem on that stretch of road. It’s ridiculous at school times, instead of islands put double yellows and school chevrons up.
The best way to stop speeding drivers is to jail them for one year on their second offence. Not try and kill all drivers by putting dangerous obstructions in the road.
The picture was taken before markings were put down there are now signs saying give way to oncoming traffic and is clearly marked out on rd .
I drive to work everyday through it in the dark etc .
It’s incompetent drivers that cause the issues .
However I agree it’s a disaster wait till school goes back and people park outside school gates etc . Accident waiting to happen there .
Speed bumps, yellow zigzag school lines and a raised zebra cro
crossing would be better.