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Water bridge crossroads 'needs more safety work'

John Devine
BBC News, Cambridgeshire
JOHN DEVINE/BBC Charlie Marks at the Boots Bridge crossroads between Wimblington and Manea in FenlandJOHN DEVINE/BBC
Charlie Marks wants "stop" signs to replace "give way" ones at the crossroads, where the B1093 Manea Road/Wimblington Road crosses the Sixteen Foot Drain

People living near an accident blackspot that recently had a safety upgrade are calling for more improvements following further incidents at the crossroads.

Boots Bridge in the Cambridgeshire Fens has seen a number of crashes over the years and local councillor Charlie Marks thinks signage should be even clearer because some sat-nav devices do not recognise the junction as somewhere vehicles should give way.

Police have attended two incidents at the Sixteen Foot Drain junction, between Manea and Wimblington, in the past three weeks.

Cambridgeshire County Council said it was "in discussion with the police to review the recent incidents and decide if any further action is required".

JOHN DEVINE/BBC Boots Bridge approach in Manea, Cambridgeshire, looking up an incline on red-painted tarmac towards the bridge, with a "give way" warning sign and another "quayside or river bank" sign showing a vehicle plunging in to waterJOHN DEVINE/BBC
Red tarmac warns drivers on the B1093 that they are approaching the B1098 Sixteen Foot Bank and the bridge that carries traffic over the Sixteen Foot Drain

Marks, a Conservative member of Fenland District Council and Manea Parish Council, said the county council had carried out safety work earlier this year including:

  • laying red tarmac at the approach to the crossroads
  • moving the 50mph speed limit signs further back on the approaches
  • painting new road markings

"Despite all this, we have had two serious traffic incidents here in the past three weeks - one involving a horsebox and a motorcyclist, the latter ended up being transferred to hospital by air ambulance," he said.

"I understand that sat-nav devices don't recognise this as a junction where you should actually give way, and if people just follow it to the letter, they have a real risk of collision.

"I really think we should have 'stop' signs installed in place of 'give way' signs - that would make it clearer."

Google The Boots Bridge crossing the Sixteen Foot Drain, with a "slow" marking on the road surface, and a wonky 50mph sign on one side of the bridgeGoogle
The Boots Bridge (pictured 2022) crosses the Sixteen Foot Drain, part of the network of deep ditches in The Fens
John Devine/BBC Two 50mph speed limit signs on the sides of the B1093 road, with SLOW painted on the road surface as vehicles approach the Boots Bridge in the distanceJohn Devine/BBC
The 50mph speed limit signs have been moved further back on the approaches to the crossroads
JOHN DEVINE/BBC A new give way sign lying among grass and other plants in a dip/verge at Boots Bridge crossroadsJOHN DEVINE/BBC
A new "give way" sign lies in the verge from a previous incident, while other vehicle debris can be seen in the area too
JOHN DEVINE/BBC James Burroughs, 31, lives in Manea and thinks the road signs at Boots Bridge are "appalling".JOHN DEVINE/BBC
James Burroughs, 31, lives in Manea and thinks the road signage is "appalling"

James Burroughs has lived in Manea for 20 years.

"I think the road signage is appalling - the 50mph sign is still too close to the bridge and the give way sign just appears from nowhere," he said.

"There seems to be a crash or incident every other week... you have to learn to live with it."

JOHN DEVINE/BBC Jim Danks in his garden in ManeaJOHN DEVINE/BBC
Jim Danks says the only reason there have not been fatalities at Boots Bridge is because of the modern safety features on vehicles

Another Manea resident, Jim Danks, thinks a lot of the incidents are down to "driver error".

"If someone blindly follows a sat-nav, they have no common sense," he said.

JOHN DEVINE/BBC Screen shot of a sat-nav on the B1093 showing the B1093 Wimblington Road crossing the Sixteen Foot Drain where it becomes the Manea Road. A 60mph sign is in the top left hand corner of the pictureJOHN DEVINE/BBC
One sat-nav device for the B1093 has with no audio or visual instructions telling drivers there is a junction ahead, which could be an issue according to some locals

A spokesperson for the county council said it had made safety improvements in 2019 which had "significantly reduced" the rate of collisions.

They said further works were carried out earlier this year "in response to continued local concern" and discussions would continue.

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