Worry over city junction ‘where drivers have to brake’

A junction at a Hereford spot heavily used by both traffic and pedestrians is an accident waiting to happen, a nearby resident has warned.

Belmont resident Gail Morris said drivers “come at such a speed” onto north end of Goodrich Grove, where it meets the A465 Belmont Road near McDonald’s and the forthcoming Lidl supermarket.

“If you’re trying to cross, you can’t see round the parked cars – you have to rely on drivers stopping,” she said.

And while there is a traffic island across the relatively wide road splay, “it’s in the wrong place – it just leads to a grassy bank on the other side,” she said.

Even crossing at the “tactile” dropped kerbs further up, “you have traffic coming from all directions”, she pointed out.

“I saw one disabled man crossing here for whom traffic had to stop sharply.”

Indeed during LDRS’ visit to the spot, cars could also be seen having to brake to allow a mother with a toddler to cross.

Local cyclist Sean Kendle, dismounting to cross, added: “You also have to watch for buses coming out of the side-road”, and feared the new Lidl store across the road could worsen the problem.

But plans by the discount retailer as part of its current redevelopment of the former Three Counties Hotel site include widening the pavements on either side of Belmont Road and the traffic island between them.

A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said it planned work “to improve safety at the pedestrian crossing points on the A465 Belmont Road and Goodrich Grove”, as part of the Lidl development.

“This includes upgrading the crossing on Belmont Road to a new toucan crossing and improving the footway that links to the existing pedestrian crossing at Goodrich Grove,” they said.

A toucan crossing is controlled by traffic lights and is wide enough to allow pedestrians and mounted cyclists to cross at the same time.

“These works aim to encourage pedestrians and cyclists to cross the road at the existing, safer location, just down from the Goodrich Grove junction,” the spokesperson said.