More lives will be lost on the A1 unless dangerous gaps are closed, councillor warns
Dozens of gaps in the central reservation remain open between Stamford and Newark
More lives will be lost on the A1 unless highways bosses do more to make the road safer, a councillor has warned.
South Kesteven District Councillor Elvis Stooke, an Independent representing Belmont, has called on National Highways to close more of the gaps along the A1 as soon as possible to cut the number of crashes and deaths.
National Highways has so far closed 14 gaps, but a further 41 remain open between Stamford and Newark.
Councillor Stooke says the central reservations should be closed with immediate effect while longer-term safety improvements are carried out.
He said: "People are still crossing the A1 in ways that I wouldn't even dream of doing myself and it's clear we're going to have another accident, another loss of life or another serious injury to a family or anybody who's going to work or anybody who's using the A1.
"I've heard that there's talks of closing it - which is great - and I welcome that, but in the meantime let's close them now whilst the talks are going on so we don't have to endure any more serious accidents and families up and down Grantham and the UK do not have to have that phone call to say 'look, I'm afraid to say so-and-so has died.'"
Councillor Stooke told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that closing the gaps should be a priority.
He said: "I think now is the time to say, look, with immediate effect we need to close these A1 gaps now because I don't want to see anymore deaths.
"I want people to come to Lincolnshire, Grantham, Stamford, Rutland - anywhere they can go up and down the A1 - and know they're going to on a safe traffic and not worry when they get to Great Ponton or any points where these gaps are are they going to be involved in a serious accident?"
He also suggested National Highways could bring in a temporary reduced speed limit along parts of the A1 in the short term.
He added: "If they're not prepared to close it at the moment because they're following whatever protocol they have to follow, then let's get some speed restrictions in there.
"Let's slow the traffic down through that section. Yes, it might cause a bit of delay but I think people would rather have a slight bit of delay than actually having deaths on our roads."
National Highways route manager Phil Shaw said the safety of people using the A1 remained the focus.
He said: "Our focus remains on the safety of people using the A1 and we are progressing our plans for further closures of gaps along the route having shut off 14 last year.
"This is a complex legal and technical process and we want to ensure that the decisions we make now will create a safer route and not simply shift the issues further down the road.
"To that end we are carrying out extensive surveys and drawing up potential designs which will go out for consultation.
"In the meantime, we are looking at other ways to improve safety such as the ongoing work at Foston to Little Ponton."
National Highways identified 59 gaps in total between Stamford and Blyth, with investigations taking place into 45 of them.