Coroner calls for A64 improvements (From Gazette & Herald)

Coroner calls for A64 improvements

CALLS for safety improvements to a notorious blackspot junction on the A64 York to Scarborough road, at Barton crossroads, have been made by Coroner Michael Oakley.

Speaking at an inquest at Pickering, Mr Oakley - a leading campaigner for improvements in general to the busy trunk road which links the Yorkshire coast and Ryedale with the rest of Britain - said he was to take the issue up with the Highways Authority, asking for consideration to be given to closing the junction.

His comments came when he summed up the evidence on an American visitor, Charles Michael Craig, a 50-year-old cabinet maker of Lexington, South Carolina, who died in a road accident at the crossroads last October when his car was hit by a lorry.

Mr Oakley said he was conscious of the fact that there had been ten serious road accidents at the junction, including at least one fatality.

"The A64, generally, is in the spotlight. Whether anything is going to be done to improve it is not clear."

He said an "eminently sensible" suggestion had been made by police that the junction could be closed for traffic coming out onto the A64 from the direction of Castle Howard. He added: "It is a road which is carrying increasing traffic because it is the main route to Castle Howard."

Earlier, Traffic Constable Tim Alderson, questioned by Mr Oakley, said he believed road safety would be improved if the junction was only used for traffic going to Castle Howard and not coming out on to the main road. He said a letter had been sent to the Highways Agency asking for investigations to be made into the junction, but no reply had yet been received.

Evidence was given that Mr Craig had been seen by witnesses to have been "coasting" across the junction when he was hit by the lorry, but the driver, Carl Gibbons, had no chance of avoiding the accident, said Mr Oakley.

"It is significant that Mr Craig may have misjudged the speed of the lorry or been looking in the opposite direction, bearing in mind he was used to driving on the left hand side of the road in his own country."

Other motorists had told police that Mr Craig made no attempt to speed across the junction.

A verdict of accidental death was recorded on Mr Craig who died from multiple injuries.

A verdict of accidental death was also recorded on Stuart Siddons, of Priest Close, Hunmanby, Filey, who died in a crash at Cloughton Bank on the Scarborough to Whitby road when his car crossed a double white line and collided with a people carrier.

Updated: 13:01 Wednesday, May 07, 2003