Council to carry out safety works at rural Kettering 'death junction' - but is it enough?

Work will be carried out in a bid to make Kettering’s ‘most dangerous rural junction’ safer – but some feel it will make little difference.

Multiple accidents have taken place at the crossroads between Broughton and Pytchley, with residents fearing it’s just a matter of time before there’s a fatal crash there.

There have been calls for North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) to take action and they have now drawn up proposals to replace existing give way signs and markings with stop signs and markings, renew rumble strips on the approach and install additional ‘40’ and ‘slow’ road markings in the early spring.

But those whose loved ones have been involved in crashes there say they are skeptical over whether the work will have an impact.

Broughton resident Steve Haddon’s wife was on her way home in July when another driver travelling from the direction of Pytchley didn’t stop and smashed into her vehicle, knocking it through iron railings into a field. She suffered severe whiplash and couldn’t turn her head, and because a paramedic didn’t want to move her the roof was cut from her car. She still suffers from a stiff neck and shoulder many months later and in December narrowly avoided being hit there again – performing an emergency stop in the dark when she could see another motorist was not about to give way.

Steve said: “Give way is already telling you to stop if there's traffic preventing you from crossing. Someone going past the give way sign and across the junction at 50-60mph clearly has no intention of giving way or stopping – and probably doesn't appreciate the finer points of the law on give way vs stop signs.

“But, whilst I'm not convinced it will help, I am pleased to hear that something is being done – and hope it will make driving along that road a little safer.

"I still think that, ultimately, the road layout needs to be changed.”

Another Broughton resident, Laura Staniscia, calls the crossroads ‘death junction’. Her husband had to be airlifted to hospital with three breaks in his pelvis after a crash there about 10 years ago and, last year, her sister suffered nerve damage and shock after another incident.

She too feels that the planned safety works do not go far enough.

Laura said: “While the upcoming changes to the crossroads are welcomed I, along with other locals, don't feel like they will be massively impactful.

"People who are hit at the crossroads often get told by the other driver that they didn't realise they had to stop. The current give way signs are often somehow missed by some drivers. I don't feel like changing the wording is really going to work.

"It needs a new road layout. I hope the council keep this high on their radar.”

Cllr Matt Binley (Con), NNC’s executive member for highways, travel and assets, asked drivers to watch out for the new signage and changes to road markings and said that, once the work is completed, the council will monitor their effect and consider whether further action is necessary.

But he said that, as it stands, a new road layout is ‘not proportionate’ – although it would never be ruled out.

Cllr Binley said: “Any change to the road layout as has been suggested by a couple of residents would be a complex and long process, including compulsory land purchases to accommodate any new road layout.

"While such a scheme will never be ruled out as our Red Route Group continually review accident sites such as this one, at present such a major scheme is not deemed necessary or proportionate. We instead have a list of improvements we will be implementing that we are positive will help to alleviate the issues at this location.

“As ever, we would like to take this opportunity to remind all motorists to drive safely and in accordance with the weather conditions.”