Residents living near to the junction of a major Liverpool road claim they have been left “stressed” and scared for children's safety due to the number of car crashes taking place in the area.
Chislehurst Avenue in Belle Vale shares a junction with Childwall Valley Road and is where some locals have claimed crashes have occurred almost on a weekly basis in the last five to six weeks. Liverpool City Council, referencing its own data, said that is has records of seven crashes that led to ‘slight injuries’ occurring over the last five years.
Maxine Martin has lived on a new estate on Chislehurst Avenue for the last five years and said she has seen a lot of car accidents take place with the area becoming a hotspot in recent weeks. She has been campaigning to see stricter speed measures brought in among other changes.
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These worries were passed on to local Labour Councillor Ruth Bennett as far back as 2021 who then raised these concerns with Liverpool City Council’s highways department. A spokesperson for the authority said it cannot comment in more detail about any potential intervention due to an ongoing investigation in the area by Merseyside Police following a recent incident.
The incident occurred last Saturday, April 15, when a man in his 30s was hit by a car on Childwall Valley Road and later taken to hospital to be treated. It was later confirmed that he sustained life changing injuries.
While the incident occurred at the traffic lights just up from the Chislehurst junction, Maxine and other neighbours on the street feel as thought it is more evidence that more needs to be done to make the area safe for pedestrians and motorists.
Maxine told the ECHO: "One of the issues is going into the turn. There are two lanes into town and one lane out.
“People are looking to get out at the junction and people are bombing up the outside lane.
“There are no speed cameras. People don’t realise that it is 30 mph.”
Following the collision on Saturday April 15, Merseyside Safer Roads partnership deployed one of its units to the area on Monday April 17. After reviewing the area, the organisation added that "17 offences" were identified in the afternoon and that drivers will hear from the Safer Roads Unit in due course.
Maxine added: “Residents are exasperated by the amount of crashes there. It is a mess and people are worried about their kids.
“It is the stress of it all. It's upsetting.”
Mum of two Barbara Field, 41, also raised her concerns about the number of crashes taking place in the area. She described the situation as “awful”.
She told the ECHO: “It is not good for our mental health as it feels like we are fighting a losing battle.
“I have two boys, one is 12 and I’m scared to have to watch them cross the road. It is having an impact having to witness these incidents."
Residents in the area want to see better speed controls. They also hope a different layout for the road markings could make the area safer.
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said it is exploring ways to improve visibility for drivers and pedestrians in the areas as well as improving accessibility in and around the area. The spokesperson added that an assessment is ongoing but cannot comment in more detail due to the ongoing investigation by Merseyside police following the incident last Saturday.
They added: “The council is currently looking at options of how best to make the road safe for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.”
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