Michael Fabricant has taken up, once again, the issue of providing lighting at the junction of the A38 and the Streethay turn-off. In a letter to him in response to a request from a constituent, Mr Ominder Bharj of the Highways Agency has written to Michael:

Thank you for your letter regarding the installation of lighting at the Streethay junction of the A38.

I can confirm that we do not have any lighting works planned for this area of the network. The Highways Agency are currently looking at ways to reduce lighting by removal or switching off at midnight. We are committed to reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of our roadside equipment, without a discernible shift in safety. Road lighting, like any other service the Highways Agency provides, must be regularly assessed to determine if it is still providing a cost effective service. Road lighting operating costs are increasing largely due to increasing rates, and the benefits are falling due to: improved impact protection on vehicles; a greater prevalence of driver aids such as ABS; better road design and better compliance with the seat belt law and speed limits.

The accident records at this location show that there have been 6 incidents involving personal injury in the last 5 years; 1 serious and 5 slight, of which the night time injuries recorded 1 serious and 2 slight. This places the location towards the lower end of our Midlands cluster site priority list. The Agency’s limited resources will be focused where there is the greatest need for intervention at accident cluster sites. Consequently, we do not propose to assess this junction further at this stage.

“This is a disappointing response” says Michael. “I wonder how many will need to be killed before they consider installing lighting at this dark and dangerous junction?”.