Bereaved father places memorial on Peterborough bridge to urge council to address road safety concerns

A bereaved father has placed a memorial on a bridge in Peterborough to urge the council to act on road safety concerns.
Ernest Martin with his protest material in memory of his son Cain.Ernest Martin with his protest material in memory of his son Cain.
Ernest Martin with his protest material in memory of his son Cain.

Ernest Martin first held a protest outside Peterborough City Council’s offices at Sandmartin House at 11:12pm on Wednesday (July 21); the time his son Cain died along the B1167 New Cut, Thorney in a car accident.

The date was exactly eight months after Cain passed away and ever since, Ernest has been campaigning for the council to take action to slow down drivers on the “dangerous” section of road.

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His campaigned was emboldened in June when a young driver actually crashed along the same section of road and hit into the memorial. The young man was able to life-threatening injuries.

Cain Martin memorial and protest on Town Bridge.Cain Martin memorial and protest on Town Bridge.
Cain Martin memorial and protest on Town Bridge.

Last month, Ernest met with council representatives at the crash site, who promised to carry out a safety audit along the road.

Among Ernert’s calls to improve safety is a temporary speed limit to be put in place while the long term solutions are investigated.

Frustrated by the lack of progress though, Ernest decided to take part in the protest and took a memorial to Cain to the council’s offices before leaving it on town bridge, close to the offices and the Fletton Quays development.

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The memorial includes photos and drawings of Cain as well as a sign explaining the cause.

It reads: “Cain Martin died November 21st 2020 on the B1167 New Cut at Thorney, leaving two others with life changing injuries.

“On June 6, another almost fatal accident happened; destroying the memorial.

“Yet Peterborough City Council have still not taken steps to keep it from happening again.”

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The same evening of the protest, the council got in touch with Ernest to say that they were working on the issue and that the road safety audit would be completed by the middle of next week.

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson, said: “Road safety remains a priority for the council and as such we will continue to monitor all our highway network and implement measures where necessary.

“We are in discussions with Cain’s family and even though we agree with the police findings, following our last meeting at the end of June we agreed to undertake a road safety audit to identify if any road safety issues and mitigations/improvements could be made to this section of road.

“Since then, we have commissioned an independent road safety auditor to do this. This piece of work is progressing well and site inspections are taking place. The findings of the audit are expected to be provided in the coming weeks.

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“We understand the frustrations of Cain’s family, however we feel it is important the audit is thorough and not rushed. We will act on the results of the audit, so will be making decisions once this has been completed.”

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