Call for 20mph speed limit on street where car hit same house twice in three years

A Peterborough city councillor has called for a 20mph speed limit to be introduced on a Peterborough street where a house was hit by a car twice in three years.

Vigie Hammond’s home in Atherstone Avenue was first hit in 2018, and again last year.

She called for more road safety measures to be introduced – but a year on, nothing has changed on the street, and Vigie said she was left expecting another collision.

Now cllr Lucinda Robinson, who represents the Ravensthorpe ward, has called for a 20mph limit to be introduced.

“Atherstone Avenue causes me great concern”

She said: “Atherstone Avenue causes me great concern. Since becoming a ward councillor in 2019 I have met on this street with a senior council officer in the Highways team and discussed this concern.

"The local Labour team have long been urging the council to introduce a 20 mph zone here, given the two schools close by, but was told that Peterborough City Council does not believe these zones to be effective and so has no policy for them.

" I challenged as to why many Peterborough villages have 20 mph zones but it seems this is because Parish Councils can fund them and disappointingly this is the only route to secure one in Peterborough City Council apparently. This does baffle me when I see other councils still continue to choose new 20 zones as a safety measure - especially around schools.

"In response to my questions about speeding I was informed by the council that the monitoring of average speeds on this street gives a figure within the margins of the 30 mph limit so it does not qualify for physical speed reduction measures.

"I would like some on-street data collected to back up this remote sampling though. We have all seen the reckless drivers who hurtle down here, sometimes with terrible consequences.

Reports of ‘racing’ in the area

Cllr Robinson said there had even been reports of late night racing in the area. She said: "Residents report to me it can be at night when some (often younger) drivers use the loop of Ledbury Road and Atherstone Avenue to seemingly show off with fast speeds and at times even racing. As this could be viewed as an anti-social behaviour issue rather than just speeding I have tried a different tack by raising this with the Police.

"I would like to see these youngsters deterred from such past-times by action to show them it is not something they can get away with. At a recent meeting with the Neighbourhood Inspector I explained the situation on Atherstone Avenue and that weekends were a problem point, I was reassured that he would get back to me on this matter shortly.

“Reckless driving blights a number of streets in this area, with Grange Road and Priory Road particularly suffering too, and I will continue to raise the issues with the Council and Police and push for action for as long as I need to.”

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson said: “The council takes road safety extremely seriously and we understand residents' concerns. We will continue to monitor the situation closely. If appropriate, additional measures will be evaluated in line with site constraints and available budgets."