“Racetrack” Rotherham road will be reviewed for safety says highways boss

Cumwell Lane/Kingsforth Lane was the subject of a petition calling for more safety measures following a number of incidents on the route, after a councillor said it had become “a “racetrack between the villages”, with eight collisions, and two deaths, “all in a short period of time”.

In response, RMBC reduced the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph, resurfaced part of Kingsforth Lane, introduced road markings and installed reflective posts.

RMBC’s overview and scrutiny management board agreed to investigate the viability of average speed cameras along the road – and concluded that “the route does not meet the required threshold for installation of these cameras”, based on speed data.

During yesterday’s (December 1) overview and scrutiny meeting, Andrew Moss, Rotherham Council’s interim head of transport infrastructure, said that the road will be monitored over the next 12 months to ensure that the safety measures are effective.

Paul Woodcock, RMBC’s director of planning and regeneration added that: “We can never say that there won’t be any accidents and unfortunately fatalities on our roads, just like no other area can.

“What we can do is put in measures to enhance road safety.”

Andrew Moss, interim head of transport infrastructure added: “We will wait a period of time, probably conducting speed reviews over the next 12 months, to try and monitor the impact of the measures, and then look at the data to come to a decision.