Council says motorists stick to speed limit on Mersea Road

More than 1,600 people signed a petition to try and get road safety measures put in place on Mersea Road after the death of Taylen Ireton in September.

Berechurch councillor Dave Harris has been looking to improve safety on the road for years.

Mersea Road where the petition is hoping will make safer (Image: Google) He said: “In terms of the support of the petition, it’s so great to see the community get behind something like this.

“The petition reached 1,600 signatures, and I thought it was a good time to take it in.

“Every day that goes past the risk is there, if nothing is sorted.”

Essex County Council responded to the petition being handed in by councillor Harris.

Tom Cunningham, cabinet member for highways at Essex County Council, said: “Small highways improvements can be delivered through our Local Highways Panels (LHPs).

“These panels are responsible for deciding which schemes should be prioritised for delivery in their local areas and within their annual budgets.

“LHPs are made up of county councillors. In some areas, a number of councillors from borough, city, district and parish councils are also invited to attend and share local knowledge.

“LHPs meet every spring to determine which schemes should be prioritised, with the next meetings due in spring 2025 to consider highways improvements for 2025/26.

“In September 2023, we undertook an automatic traffic count on the B1025 Mersea Road, Blackheath, which is 75m south of Weir Road. The results were as follows:

Statistics - a automatic traffic count taken back in September 2023 (Image: Essex County Council) “The Department for Transport advises traffic authorities to use the mean average speed as the basis to determine local speed limits.

"On this road, the daily average speeds of 35mph and 36.5mph indicate the majority of drivers understand the 40mph speed limit and are complying with it.

“We also have a school crossing patrol site on Mersea Road and are actively working to fill the patrol officer vacancy, which is being advertised at www.workingforessex.com”

Mr Harris is also concerned after a three-vehicle crash on Maypole Green last week, which resulted in two cars being written off.

Danger - three cars were involved in a crash on Maypole green (Image: Councillor Dave Harris) The latest incident and last month's fatality happened close to one another and Mr Harris has called for action to be taken.

He said: “Mersea Road and Maypole Green have both been dangerous for years. There’s been about five or six incidents at Maypole over the past few years.

Unhappy - councillor Dave Harris is concerned about road safety across his ward following dangerous accidents (Image: Councillor Dave Harris) “In terms of the automatic traffic count they take, it's an average speed between 9am and 6pm and it isn’t representative of the road users.

“They should take real speed averages to see how dangerous it actually is.”

The petition was launched after the death of 13 year old Taylen, with residents calling for safety to be improved on the road.

The petition states: "Coming into Blackheath past the Berechurch Hall Road roundabout heading towards West Mersea is particularly dangerous.

"There are no traffic lights, pedestrian crossings, speed bumps or any other measures to reduce speed or protect pedestrians."

Mr Harris previously applied to have safety measures put in place in 2019 and 2022 but was unsuccessful. 

Many residents have signed the petition which was taken to Essex County Council by Mr Harris.

The petition looks to improve the overall safety along the road for pedestrians and there is a plan in place which looks to move the 40mph zone to be extended towards Mersea.

For more information on the petition and to sign it, visit https://tinyurl.com/Mersea-Road-petition.