Appeal for urgent safety measures after second death on same road in eight weeks

EXTRA safety measures are “top of the list”, Rotherham Council insisted, after another death on the road between Hellaby and Thurcroft.

Concerns about Cumwell Lane and Kingsforth Lane were raised again after the death of a 30-year-old man on Friday evening.

The single-car collision followed another fatal smash involving two vehicles in December and opposition member Cllr Simon Ball raised the subject at Monday’s RMBC cabinet meeting.

He said: “I’m here again, unfortunately, because we’ve had another death on Cumwell Road, Kingsforth Lane.

“It was two months ago I came and asked that we got some more safety measures on that road.

“The same very day that the petition was filed about safety on that road, there was a death of another person travelling on that road.

“The last time we came you said it would be a lengthy process to get this safety done.

"I’m now appealing that we get on with this very quickly. Can we have a look at that as a matter of urgency?”

A Change.org petition calling for safety measures attracted 2,745 signatures in late 2021.Another petition, on the council’s own website, has now been started and had more than 450 names this week.

Resurfacing work, barriers and a lower speed limit are among the suggestions for improvements.

The large distribution centre set to bring more lorries has added another layer of concern at the Hellaby end of the road.

Cllr Dominic Beck, cabinet member for transport, said: “We are still ongoing with our regular work in terms of sweeping the highway, our engagement with the landfill site down there.

"Our medium to longer term work around if there’s anything that we need to do in response to events recently, around potential traffic regulation orders, changes to, for example, the speed on there, and many other things that are available to us, are working forward at pace, I can assure you of that.

“It’s just tragic, unfortunately, that something else has happened down there on the same road.

“It’s important that we reassure you and the public that we are taking this seriously.”

Paul Woodcock, regeneration and environment director, told Monday’s meeting that temporary signs had been added. Barriers and the speed limit would be looked at, he added.

“We have looked at both the short-term and the medium to long-term measures, just to give you assurance that it is the top of our list to bring in those as soon as possible,” said Mr Woodcock.

The new petition is available to sign at bit.ly/3HVxlWE until March 15.

Police investigating the crash appealed to motorists who may have seen the incident or noticed the car involved in the moments before.

The driver, who has not yet been named, died after crashing into a field off Kingsforth Lane near Thurcroft at 8.12pm on Friday. Police believe he lost control after a bend and his blue BMW 320 left the road.

A spokesperson said: “Officers are keen to hear from anyone who may have been travelling along Kingsforth Lane between 8pm and 8.30pm and witnessed the collision, or saw the car prior to the collision."

If you can help, call 101 quoting incident 852 of February 12 or contact Crimestoppers via crimestoppers-uk.org.