Safety barrier plan for blackspot

A safety barrier could be installed at a notorious accident blackspot which has claimed the lives of three teenagers.

North Yorkshire County Council is to consult the public on the possibility of erecting the 260,000 barrier alongside the A6069 Broughton Road near Niffany Farm outside Skipton.

The move follows a crash last year which claimed the life of 18-year-old Charlotte Wade after her car plunged into the Leeds Liverpool canal only yards from the spot where two other teenagers died in a similar accident.

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Miss Wade was driving from Skipton on the A6069 Broughton Road with two passengers, when she lost control on a bend, crashing through railings into the canal.

Just over a year earlier Larissa Moore, 18, and Sarah Woolmer, 19, both from Skipton, died when the car they were travelling in left the same road and crashed through the railings into the canal.

Miss Wade's parents, Graham and Julie, and her friends have been campaigning for a safety barrier to be put up at the accident blackspot.

Now North Yorkshire County Council has decided to ask the public about the possibility of erecting the barrier.

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Mr Wade, of Gargrave, said: "The community want it, friends of Charlotte want it.

"Charlotte would be here if there was a barrier there.

"I just want to see something go up before there's another tragedy.

"It will happen again if something does not go up."

The proposal is one of the key recommendations of the county council's feasibility study into possible safety features for the site.

County Councillor John Fort, North Yorkshire's executive member for highways, said: "Our feasibility study concludes that a safety barrier could be introduced along this stretch of highway. We understand the strength of feeling about this site and will be including the erection of a safety barrier as an option for funding through the Skipton Service Centre Transportation Strategy which will go out to public consultation in the immediate future."

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North Yorkshire County Council carried out the study after a fatal collision inspection report drawn up with North Yorkshire Police.

The report had also called for additional signing and lining safety measures and the application of high-friction road surfacing. These works were completed by the county council last June and July.

Acknowledging the strength of public feeling that exists about "Niffany Corner" on the A6069 Broughton Road, the county council has decided to include the proposal for a safety barrier in the Skipton Service Centre Transportation Strategy.

The results of the consultation will be reported to the Craven area committee in April and depending on the outcome, a barrier could be erected later this year.

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The feasibility study had also looked into the necessity of street lighting for the site but concluded that lighting was not required as it had not been a significant factor in any of the accidents at that location.

It also acknowledged that putting up a safety barrier would lead to the loss of an informal pedestrian/towpath route at the site which could lead to pedestrians walking in the road and this therefore had to be balanced against the risk of a vehicle leaving the carriageway.

The installation of a high containment kerb along the eastbound side of the road had been investigated as this would have had the benefit of retaining the pedestrian/towpath route.

However, it was not considered adequate and would also encourage motorists to travel nearer the centre of the carriageway and increase the risk of head-on collisions, said the council.