Crash raises school construction fears
May 31 2008 by Dave Black, The Journal
FAMILIES living close to the site where a major new school is being built have had their fears over traffic dangers heightened following a road accident involving a construction lorry.
People living along Shearwater Way on the South Beach Estate in Blyth, Northumberland, say they are facing the prospect of 18 months of traffic chaos and danger during construction work on the primary element of the town’s £30m Bede Academy school.
Unless a last-minute compromise can be found, heavy lorries and other construction traffic will be routed along their narrow and winding street to get to and from the building site at South Beach First School.
Now residents’ say their fears have already been proved well founded after a DAF skip loader was involved in a collision with a Vauxhall Vectra car at a junction on nearby Fulmar Drive on Wednesday.
The lorry, operated by a sub-contractor involved in the building project, was travelling to the construction site when the accident happened. Even though the lorry driver is not believed to have been at fault, locals fear the collision could be just the start of a lengthy traffic nightmare. Yesterday Mary Gray, who has lived on Shearwater Way with her husband George for 18 years, said: “This accident was awful and just shows that our concerns about traffic dangers are correct. Traffic along here is horrendous already and we fear this is just the start of what we will have to put up with.
“It doesn’t seem as though it was the lorry driver’s fault, but it backs our claim that this new school should never have been built in the middle of a residential estate in the first place.”
The accident happened as talks continue between Bede Academy sponsor, the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, and Marston’s Brewery on a compromise plan aimed at protecting Shearwater Way.
The Foundation is trying to get the brewery to agree to the creation of a temporary access track on land around the nearby South Beach pub.
The route would take lorries and other heavy traffic during the construction of the new 630-pupil academy, which will be twice the size of the existing first school.
Foundation spokeswoman Sarah French said: “The accident on Wednesday involved a lorry owned by a sub- contractor on the project which was turning into Fulmar Drive.
“We understand the lorry driver was not to blame and the accident was totally unrelated to work on the site.
“Negotiations are continuing with the brewery on creating an alternative access route for construction traffic and we hope the matter is close to being resolved.”
Northumbria Police said inquiries are being carried out into Wednesday afternoon’s accident, which left the car driver injured and the road closed for more than an hour.
