Safety fears over planned petrol station at Stirling Corner (From Borehamwood Times)
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Safety fears over planned petrol station at Stirling Corner
2:00pm Thursday 12th April 2012 in News By Bruce Thain
Plans for a new petrol station near Stirling Corner have raised fears of traffic safety at the notorious roundabout.
Concerns have been raised over plans by Morrisons Supermarket to build the new petrol station next to its site in Stirling Way and the impact it will have to traffic around Stirling Corner.
Councillor Clive Butchins, chairman of the transport and road safety forum at Elstree and Borehamwood Town Council, called for a detailed traffic survey to be carried out before any planning decision on allowing Morrisons to build the petrol station is made.
He added: “I have requested that a meeting be set up between the various parties as this will have an important bearing on whether it will be practical and desirable to allow this development next to the existing store.”
Ghayenor Orbell, from Borehamwood, who shops at Morrisons said: “I think Stirling Corner’s is an accident waiting to happen and I don’t like using it.
“I think if a petrol station does go in there then it will make getting out of Stirling Way on to the roundabout even worse, it’ll be horrendous for the traffic.”
Jean Hays, who lives in Arkley Park, said: “The speed that cars go round there is such a huge issue for people and if you’re leaving Stirling Way you’re sometimes taking your life into your own hands.
“There are at least one or two crashes on the roundabout a week, something needs to be done about it.”
Peter Bradley, head of consultation at Transport for London (TfL) said in a letter there is no intention to install traffic lights around Stirling Corner as it would cause significant queuing and that safety could be improved with other measures which are currently underway.
In the same letter he said TfL raised a number of concerns that Hertsmere Borough Council “did not adequately consider traffic flow issues” when it granted approval for the supermarket which some feel has lead to more traffic on the roundabout.
He added TfL requested a revision of the traffic impact analysis by Hertsmere when the application was made in 2010 but it was not carried out.
Polly Harris-Gorf, head of planning at Hertsmere Borough Council, responded to the letter saying: “The application by Morrisons, which was approved by committee, was for external alterations to existing retail units and re-organisation of the car park, and not for a new supermarket.
“The site at Stirling Corner was already a retail park, following a successful planning appeal in the Nineties, and the application was not for a change of use of the site.”
Hertsmere Borough Council also said the date for the new petrol station to go before a committee has been pushed back following a request for more information from Morrisons about the impact the development will have.
Comments(14)
EP Herts
says...
11:29pm Thu 12 Apr 12
If you come the other way and indicate that you are going to pull into the slip road to go to Morrisons, people think you are going to drive into Barnet Lane and start to pull out only to realise (hopefully) at the last minute that you are still driving towards them.
For those who say it is because people can't drive... well I learnt to drive on those roads and have used them all my life, I drive all over the country and in my opinion it is now one of the most dangerous roads junctions I have ever come across.
The people to blame are those who allowed Morrisons to open there without making proper provisions for the road layout to be changed to slow the traffic and make the old slip road part of the roundabout system. It is the A1.....people need to remember the A1(M) starts and ends at Hatfield.
How long before a terrible accident makes those at the TfL realise that they are wrong... or do we have to wait for a drama documentary about the causes and results of a major accident on the road. Cruise ships sinking, people killed on level crossings, fires in unsafe buildings etc etc .... watch this space.
jimmykrankie
says...
1:34am Fri 13 Apr 12
Neiltheboss
says...
7:40am Fri 13 Apr 12
We all know you're trying to be controversial. Do you think the author of the wonderful comment above yours can't drive?
Grow up
Maverosi
says...
9:15am Fri 13 Apr 12
The road is oddly shaped and not very circular .
It can be a pain to pull out of the morrisons slip road as when the A1 traffic clears the Barnet lane traffic pulls out leaving no time to clear the slip road.
To be fair to jimmy most of the problems are caused by people driving like idiots or being to scared of the roundabout to even warrant them having a driving licence . Before anyone starts I have a hgv class 1 licence gained in the army so consider my driving standards to be high
Maverosi
says...
9:15am Fri 13 Apr 12
The road is oddly shaped and not very circular .
It can be a pain to pull out of the morrisons slip road as when the A1 traffic clears the Barnet lane traffic pulls out leaving no time to clear the slip road.
To be fair to jimmy most of the problems are caused by people driving like idiots or being to scared of the roundabout to even warrant them having a driving licence . Before anyone starts I have a hgv class 1 licence gained in the army so consider my driving standards to be high
Maverosi
says...
9:15am Fri 13 Apr 12
The road is oddly shaped and not very circular .
It can be a pain to pull out of the morrisons slip road as when the A1 traffic clears the Barnet lane traffic pulls out leaving no time to clear the slip road.
To be fair to jimmy most of the problems are caused by people driving like idiots or being to scared of the roundabout to even warrant them having a driving licence . Before anyone starts I have a hgv class 1 licence gained in the army so consider my driving standards to be high
Ms H
says...
9:19am Fri 13 Apr 12
jimmykrankie wrote:With you here.
i have no problems at sterling corner. that is because i can drive. a new petrol station is a welcome addition as it will increase competition and maybe make it a few pennies cheaper.
Morrisons should have had another entrance in at the side and on the flip side of that Parking in the service road is constantly floated causing congestion!
Maverosi
says...
10:44am Fri 13 Apr 12
Ms H wrote:The mobile cafe should have its licence revoked as it is in the entrance of the slip road and there are always tipper drivers parked right opposite morrisons causing chaos .
jimmykrankie wrote:With you here.
i have no problems at sterling corner. that is because i can drive. a new petrol station is a welcome addition as it will increase competition and maybe make it a few pennies cheaper.
Morrisons should have had another entrance in at the side and on the flip side of that Parking in the service road is constantly floated causing congestion!
brettslewis
says...
10:45am Fri 13 Apr 12
I travel through Sterling Corner every day to and from work and always use that slip road and never see any problems.
Its poor drivers that make this junction dangerous and people who don't indicate, not the junction itself. This applies to any road or junction anywhere
Red_Devil76
says...
1:25pm Fri 13 Apr 12
I think that might help...
I had a near miss over the weekend because some young idiot wasn't watching the road (talking to his mates in the car) and he pulled out (far too quickly) from Barnet Lane to go up the A1 and I was in the middle lane and he just started moving over to the middle lane! If I hadn't hooted he would have completely taken me out!
Even the 4x4 driver behind me pulled up next to me to see if I was ok. The little idiot just waved and slowed right down to a crawl.
I was shaken and fuming!
If you can't drive safely STAY OFF THE ROADS!
And driving slow doesn't make it better.. you need to drive with the flow of the traffic.
My rant is over!
EP Herts
says...
11:34am Sat 14 Apr 12
jimmykrankie wrote:Really .. well 'I can drive too' doesn't make me clever just makes me lucky.
i have no problems at sterling corner. that is because i can drive. a new petrol station is a welcome addition as it will increase competition and maybe make it a few pennies cheaper.
You don't have to be a bad driver to be involved in an accident, you just have to be on the same part of the road as a bad driver and be unlucky.
I had worked in the motor trade for over 20years.. I drive manuals, autos, small vehicles, large vehicles.. what does it matter? If the road is dangerous then the road is dangerous!
The layout of the road is years out of date. More cars, larger, faster vehicles and a slip road which was used occasionally which has now become a main access road to a supermarket.
Until they built the new Tesco's in Borehamwood there wasn't a roundabout there either, but when the supermarket was opened they looked at the road and changed the layout to allow for the increase traffic (sound familiar).
I'd rather pay a few pennies more for my petrol than lose my life. Get your priorities right
jimmykrankie
says...
3:03pm Sat 14 Apr 12
Billy_Boy
says...
10:54am Tue 17 Apr 12
Neiltheboss says...
3:41pm Thu 12 Apr 12
Yes, there was always a retail park at Stirling Corner. However, the four shops that were originally there did not generate nearly as much traffic as the Morrisons store does now.
Secondly, since then, the powers that be have stupidly decided to switch off the traffic lights on the roundabout which means there is a blind spot when crossing and life is taken in own hands by traffic hurtling down A1.
Please take these factors into account when studying the petrol station plan. It is a dangerous idea and it is not as if a petrol station is needed as there is one on the other side of the roundabout. It's sheer greed with Morrisons and the safety of drivers and pedestrians needs to be addressed.
Thank you