Drivers urged: ‘Don’t put road workers lives at risk’

A road junction in Merseyside, UK, has become a hotspot for life-threatening incidents to construction workers, says Highways England. Contractors have reported 23 incidents in two months where their safety has been put at risk by drivers ignoring overnight closures. Road users have driven into roadworks for the £3m improvement project at Switch Island, where the M57, M58 and three A roads all join. One lorry driver travelled through the construction area without stopping - forcing workers to get out
May 23, 2018 Read time: 2 mins

A road junction in Merseyside, UK, has become a hotspot for life-threatening incidents to construction workers, says 8101 Highways England.

Contractors have reported 23 incidents in two months where their safety has been put at risk by drivers ignoring overnight closures.

Road users have driven into roadworks for the £3m improvement project at Switch Island, where the M57, M58 and three A roads all join.

One lorry driver travelled through the construction area without stopping - forcing workers to get out the way quickly - while another incident involved a motorcyclist swerving around a worker. Meanwhile, a 4x4 driver swore at a worker who tried to offer advice before driving away.

Highways England says there are nearly 300 incidents per week of road users driving into coned-off construction areas where road workers are based at motorways and major A roads.

In addition, findings revealed there were over 1,200 incidents in the north-west of England alone during a three-month period last year.

Phil Tyrrell, Highways England project manager for the Switch Island scheme, said the upgrade will offer better journeys through the junction. 

“Drivers who selfishly and illegally ignore the closures to force their way through are putting both their lives and those of our road workers at risk – all to save a few minutes on their journeys.”

The Switch Island improvement scheme includes changes to the road layout and lane markings, new barriers between carriageways, coloured high friction surfaces, better signs and a new 400m shared cycle path.

LED lights similar to an airport runway are also being implemented in the road surface which will light up when traffic lights turn green to help drivers see which lane to follow.

New road signs will be displayed on three new gantries over the A5036 Dunnings Bridge Road, A59 Ormskirk Road and A5758 Brooms Cross Road to help drivers get into the correct lane to continue their journeys.

Urban Traffic Control

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • The future? It's remote, says Valerann
    January 4, 2024
    More responsive traffic management is of enormous value – and Valerann thinks its SaaS system, remotely deployed in Latin America, is able to identify incidents much more quickly, finds Andrew Stone
    Read More
  • Drivewyze introduces notification service for truck drivers
    August 16, 2019
    US technology company Drivewyze has launched a notification service that issues an audible tone and visual alert when a truck approaches dangerous curves or low bridges. Brian Heath, CEO of Drivewyze, says the company’s rollover alerts, on targeted exit ramps and curves, are geo-fenced at 500 locations in 32 states. “We worked closely with our state partners to identify the areas that had higher incidences of rollovers, so our alerts offer an early warning to drivers to check their speed,” he adds. The
    Read More
  • Calls for smart motorway halt grow louder
    November 5, 2021
    UK transport select committee says hard shoulder motorways “apparently confuse” drivers
    Read More
  • Remove 80 per cent of traffic lights to boost economy and road safety, says IEA report
    January 26, 2016
    In a new report, authors Martin Cassini and Richard Wellings of the UK Institute of Economic Affairs demonstrate what they say are the negative social and economic effects of the government’s traffic management strategy, and argue for policies that harness voluntary cooperation among road-users. Using case-studies from around Britain, in conjunction with evidence from successful schemes in both Holland and Germany, they estimate that approximately 80 per cent of traffic lights could be ripped out in the UK.
    Read More

Highlighted Content