ROAD safety continues to be a serious issue across Sandwell, as councillors debated how the council’s budget could be best spent protecting residents.

The motion asked Sandwell Council to take “road safety seriously” and called for Zahoor Ahmed, cabinet member for environment services, to review the adequacy of road safety and traffic calming measures in Sandwell.

In particular, he called him to look at accident spots across the borough, such as Oldbury town; the Wolverhampton Road and Queensway Junction; the Perryhill Road and Castle Road junction; and Castle Road and Hadzor road junction.

Opening the debate, councillor Anandou made reference to several incidents of dangerous driving.

A three-car crash at Perryhill Road and Castle Road junction was reported in October, with two women were taken to hospital by the ambulance service as a precaution.

A 16-year-old girl and 19-year-old man died along the Birmingham Road and Oldbury Road in November 2022 after attending a late-night ‘car meet.’ A 54-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

He said: “There has been an accident every month to date at Queensway Road junction. In the recent months, we have accidents almost every week.

“The last four days alone there have been three accidents at Queensway junction. I acknowledge the fact that there have been reductions in highway funding.

“The safer roads fund was established to treat 50 highest risk local roads in England with remedial road safety engineering interventions.

“As a result, £100 million has been committed by the Department of Transport across 48 schemes. Together these schemes are set to prevent around 1500 fatal and serious injuries over the next 20 years.

Councillor Anandou claimed for every £1 spent by Sandwell Council on road safety, around £5 is returned on social value. 

“This council chambers witnesses bitter differences and fierce arguments among the members, but I’m sure we can come together to agree to prioritise the adequacy of roads, safety traffic calming measures, and how funding is allocated within highways to enable these measures to be implemented more quickly.”

The motion came  after a previous question asked by councillor Anandou an hour earlier in the meeting asked councillor Ahmed to look into installing a safe pedestrian crossing at Perryhill Road and Castle Road junction.

In response, councillor Ahmed said: “I understand your concerns as well as those raised by your ward colleagues and other members. I understand that from your town lead it has been on the agenda for the last 18 months.

“However [the junction] has been investigated on several occasions […] accidental analysis shows the junction to have a good safety record, with no road casualties in the last five years prior to the accident in 2021.”

On the motion itself, councillor Ahmed said: “Sandwell Council takes road safety seriously. Our services manage more than 550 miles of road and we receive hundreds of requests for road safety measures every year where people perceive there to be a danger.

“The cabinet’s sidewalk strategic road safety plan ensures that the council  discharges statutory duty while prioritising the limited budgets available to maximise the reduction of injury accidents.

“This approach has been very successful in reducing road casualties in Sandwell by more than half since 2000.

“Despite 32 per cent increase in traffic volumes over the same period it also worth celebrating Sandwell as the best performing council of the West Midlands councils for reducing child casualty rates in the last five years.

“There’s no there is no quick solution to anything as I mentioned. And they need to approach the government to give some more funding towards the safety of the roads.”

But Conservative councillor Amrita Dunn said:  “Each of us have a duty to be concerned about the road safety of our residents across Sandwell.

“I asked the cabinet member to start looking at a better working plan to tackle speeding across the borough but in particular in Tividale.

“I’ve spent time with the neighbourhood police team discussing ways we can work together to tackle issues of dangerous parking and speeding so that drivers and pedestrians can be safe. But unfortunately, it seems like this concern and support from the council is is lacking.

“I’ve taken complaints about road safety extremely seriously, as I’m sure all of us do. And I will continue to do so.

“Too often I just think that the responses that we get when it comes to road safety  – whether it be to do with road markings to unsafe roads to speed bumps – are often far too slow and maybe even slightly defeatist, and especially when we’re waiting for a fatality to happen.”

The motion was passed.