Howard Rd, Walkley, accident blackspot

[biotechpete]

I drive on there most days and never had a problem. The only occasional hazard seems to be when cars are parked up on the road outside the garage.

 

Any accident is definitely a case of the driver being dangerous, rather than the road.

 

Even so, a competent driver ought to be able to take that bend at 50-60 mph without too much bother (not that I've ever tried it). I walked that way every day for 4 years and never saw any part of the walls knocked down, which makes me think something has changed recently.

[Matt Sacco]

This is Matt from Saccomandos garage, let me explain the problem with this bend ,from South road towards the bend there is a hill/rise where the natural thing to do is accelerate, the bend itself falls away and has a negative camber literally lifting your vechicle off the corner. Unfortunately when people lose control on this bend they spin off down the pavement bouncing off the wall right the way past my garage. This is a desperate situation and I am going all out to try and get something done . I am not a doctor or paramedic and I don't know if I can handle the day someone is killed , crushed between a car and the stone wall. There was indeed 5 bad crashes last week . Saturday one hit telegraph pole , back window on pavement . Monday car hit wall opposite garage .Tuesday 10:00 car through wall , narrowly missing pedestrian . Tuesday 23:00 car hit entrance to St Joseph , ambulance attended. Wednesday car spun off bend and hit a van knocking it 15ft down the road . I have photos and witnesses . It is only a matter of time before someone is killed . The people who crash are regular folk not intending to go out speeding and losing control .

Any cars parked to the north of my garage are nothing to do with me and if a customer parked one there I would move it ASAP , but this is another problem .

If you walk this route check out all the impact damage all the way from the bend past my garage , it speaks for itself .

[Eater Sundae]

This is Matt from Saccomandos garage, let me explain the problem with this bend ,from South road towards the bend there is a hill/rise where the natural thing to do is accelerate, the bend itself falls away and has a negative camber literally lifting your vechicle off the corner. Unfortunately when people lose control on this bend they spin off down the pavement bouncing off the wall right the way past my garage. This is a desperate situation and I am going all out to try and get something done . I am not a doctor or paramedic and I don't know if I can handle the day someone is killed , crushed between a car and the stone wall. There was indeed 5 bad crashes last week . Saturday one hit telegraph pole , back window on pavement . Monday car hit wall opposite garage .Tuesday 10:00 car through wall , narrowly missing pedestrian . Tuesday 23:00 car hit entrance to St Joseph , ambulance attended. Wednesday car spun off bend and hit a van knocking it 15ft down the road . I have photos and witnesses . It is only a matter of time before someone is killed . The people who crash are regular folk not intending to go out speeding and losing control .

Any cars parked to the north of my garage are nothing to do with me and if a customer parked one there I would move it ASAP , but this is another problem .

If you walk this route check out all the impact damage all the way from the bend past my garage , it speaks for itself .

 

Thanks for the explanation. Have you any ideas why the situation might have suddenly got worse? It's odd for regular users to suddenly get caught out. Could the road surface have changed/deteriorated, for example?

[Paddy]

Am I right in thinking the road outside the garage has been resurfaced recently? If this is the case then that might have an effect on vehicles ability to stay on the road as the new surface is very smooth. In winter the slightest bit of frost on this new Tarmac and you have an ice rink.

[mogwai84]

I wonder if the fresh Tarmac provides some drivers with false confidence, especially in the wet.

[Daven]

I assume that the OP or the owner of the garage has informed SCC of their concerns ?

[WalkleyIan]

The section outside the garage is not that fresh. It was resurfaced approx. 5 years ago. South Road as far as Howard Rd was recently upgraded under the Amey program. If you look at them you'll see that the new Amey section is indeed smother, but the section up the slight hill and outside the garage looks to be a different top layer entirely. Might not be able to pin this one on Amey

 

This got my wondering if the smoother state of the road in general through Walkley is causing folk to carry way more speed up the hill. How it used to be it almost acted as traffic calming by virtue of the appalling number of potholes.

 

Incidents have been fairly regular over the 25 or more years I’ve lived nearby, but they seem to have reached a new level in the last 18 months or so and Matt Sacco isn't the only one to have noticed

 

Note there was a smiley SID sign on that section 2 years ago but it was pointing at traffic entering Walkley. Maybe what's needed is one out of Walkley by Fulton Rd. They also record speeds as well and the last I heard this data was sent on to Amey. The smiley signs are surprisingly effective in the short term but I think we only have 3 or 4 in Sheffield and they get moved around regularly once their initial effect has worn off

 

Lastly, there is a lot more vehicle movements across that road now, both from the flats in the old school building, and in and out of the Buddhist centre.

[Matt Sacco]

To start with I am in constant contact with road safety at sheffield City council, I have a direct number and we are all on first name terms due to me ringing them and reporting incidents, last week this was everyday. The road surface is being tested and people from amey have been to see me to discuss the bend and look at safety. I am awaiting the outcome. The bend being dangerous is not a new thing in my 22 years here I have seen some pretty horrific stuff.

Before the new road surface portholes slowed people down definetly. Now they think it's a race track and even take a racing line through it. I do think the new surface is slippery. When a car loses control and is spinning down the road/pavement there is no screeching of tyres or skid marks on the road surface which I have thought a little strange.

Personally I think if people were forced to go the appropriate speed around this bend via speed humps or a speed camera the problems would be fixed. On a blind bend you should be able to stop within a cars length not spinning down the road/pavement 85metres.

[tttttoni]

I live just round the corner from this bend and I did witness one of the accidents where I saw the back window smashed in. I was surprised myself that so many had happen in one week! But the signs are on both sides of the road and I'm not sure exactly how pedestrians can be that vigilant about it.

[Eater Sundae]

I live just round the corner from this bend and I did witness one of the accidents where I saw the back window smashed in. I was surprised myself that so many had happen in one week! But the signs are on both sides of the road and I'm not sure exactly how pedestrians can be that vigilant about it.

 

If it can justify signs warning pedestrians (and I agree, there's not much a pedestrian can do against an out of control car), maybe there should be signs along the lines of "Accident blackspot. Please keep speeds below 10 mph for the next 200 yds, until further notice".