Lib Dems Renew Calls for improvements to Mill Lane Junction after Boy’s lucky escape

Local Liberal Democrat Ward Councillors for Clewer East, Amy Tisi & Karen Davies have renewed their calls on the council for safety improvements at the Mill Lane / Parsonage Lane / Maidenhead Road roundabout, after a child was knocked off their bike last week.

"We've been calling for improvements at the Mill Lane roundabout for a year. At our public meeting last November our residents in Parsonage Lane and Clewer Village made it clear this roundabout is a major concern. So far, the only action the council has been prepared to take is the installation of speed activated sign and now, in part because of that inaction, another person, a child, has been knocked off their bike and injured," says Cllr Amy Tisi (Lib Dem - Clewer East)

The roundabout has been identified for years as a cycle accident blackspot, as drivers approach the junction too fast and with tunnel vision.

"This junction is the third worst blackspot in Berkshire for cycle accidents according to Police Records. In the 24 months from January 2017 to December 2019 4 cyclists have been recorded as being injured at this junction," says Susy Shearer from Windsor & Maidenhead Cycling Action Group. (W&MCAG)

The junction was scheduled for safety improvements in 2018-19 as part of the cycling action plan, however the work was not undertaken due to the council's financial problems. Some bicycles were painted on the road surface on the roundabout, but it is unclear how these were supposed to help.

"We'd like to see the approach to this junction slowed down and to have raised Toucan crossings for pedestrians and cyclists with the junction controlled by MOVA 'Smart' Traffic Lights.

The project was costed at £67,000 and was due in 2018-2019. In that election year the Conservatives spent £100,000 of council tax on a promotional video and lamp-post banners across the borough promoting themselves, it's time the council got its priorities right." says Cllr Karen Davies (Lib Dem - Clewer East).

"The boy's mother turned up at the scene and was in tears to find her son still alive. The boy's bike was destroyed, it could so easily have been the boy himself. What has to happen here before the council make this junction safe?" asks local Chartered Surveyor, Martin Gibbons, who lives within sight of the junction and has witnessed several accidents and many near misses at the roundabout.

"With cycling being a solution to Covid-19 transport, health & fitness, the climate emergency, pollution and congestion, making cycling safer could contribute to solving several problems," says Cllr Amy Tisi.