County council and police to promote safer driving along A1101 in joint campaign

ROAD safety officers from Cambridgeshire County Council have joined forces with police to promote safer driving along the notorious A1101. The road north of Wisbech is currently the county s number one route on its priority list due to a high number of co

ROAD safety officers from Cambridgeshire County Council have joined forces with police to promote safer driving along the notorious A1101.

The road north of Wisbech is currently the county's number one route on its priority list due to a high number of collisions.

A major safety scheme, costing around �300,000, has been proposed by the county council which would see the bends, known as the 'Gypsy Bends', remodelled and double white lines put down.

The county council's Cabinet is set to approve the start of feasibility and design work on the scheme when it meets on Tuesday.

A campaign will be launched early in the New Year to promote safer driving, specifically along the A1101. Similar campaigns have been successful in Fenland and elsewhere in the county where there have been high number of casualties.

To make sure the proposed safety scheme can be introduced as soon as practically possible the necessary research and preparatory work is already being carried out.

A number of initiatives have already taken place, such as improvements to the grip of the road surface, signage warning drivers that the road is a high collision route, and other safety improvements along the A1101.

Pc Tony Barrios, casualty reduction officer for Cambridgeshire Police, said: "From assessing the route recently, it seems difficult to point to one area as being the source of the problem, so a solution will hopefully come from a variety of interventions, such as improving bend visibility, realigning of the bend and speed enforcement measures.

"Drivers too must play their part in ensuring that they take extreme care, slowing down in advance of the bend to maintain full control on both the straighter sections of the road and on the bends."

Councillor Mac McGuire, deputy leader and Cabinet member for highways and access said: "Whilst we await Cabinet approval and the necessary preparatory work is undertaken to enable physical changes on the road to take place, a dedicated publicity campaign will be in place to help raise awareness of the need for safer driving along the A1101, to encourage drivers to get there safely.