Colchester: fear that tragedy is 'inevitable' on road

5:50pm Friday 10th October 2008

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A TRAGEDY on a busy stretch of road is inevitable unless safety measures are introduced, a resident has warned.

Patrick Donnelly, who is chairman of the St John's Green Residents’ Association in Colchester, is concerned about parents walking their children to school along Southway.

He says that the families who use the footpath from St Botolph’s Circus to St John's Green Primary School are putting themselves in very real danger on a daily basis.

"In Colchester, all stretches of road next to roundabouts have protective railings - apart from this one," explained the 68-year-old, who is married to Helen.

"It is regularly breached by out-of-control vehicles - you can clearly see damage on the footpath caused by previous accidents.

"If a car was shunted off the road, parents and their children would have no defence.

"They would be killed."

He added: "Just because there hasn't been an accident there before doesn't mean there won’t be in the future."

Great granddad-of-one Mr Donnelly added that he has been in regular contact with Essex County Council’s highways department for the last 18 months to try and get something done.

In that time, officials have advised him of an alternative route that parents can use to get to the school from St Botolph’s Circus, which goes through Mersea Road, Napier Road and Flagstaff Road.

"But parents just don’t use it, because it is much, much longer than going along Southway," said Mr Donnelly, who lives in St John's Green.

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