A688 Barnard Castle -West Auckland road named one of the most dangerous in UK

THE A688 between Barnard Castle and West Auckland is to get interactive speed signs after being declared one of the ten most dangerous roads in Britain.
The 10.5 mile stretch of road came in eighth on the Road Safety Foundation’s (RSF) annual list of high risk roads in England, Scotland and Wales, published in November.
People in Staindrop and Evenwood have been campaigning for years for traffic calming measures to be introduced along the road because of the volume and speed of traffic passing through.
The situation was made worse when the road was being used as a diversion during overnight closures of the A1 near Scotch Corner.
In its report, the RSF found that 15 crashes on the road resulted in fatal or serious injuries, with more than half of them involving motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians.
Some 47 percent happened at junctions. The foundation wants more attention to be given to the roads on its list.
The RSF report said: “Roads that are featured in these tables need attention because not only are they high risk but they have a high number of crashes causing death or serious injury.”
Several communities along the route have made similar calls in the past.
Staindrop Parish Council has had its calls for a pedestrian crossing on the road as it passes through the village rejected on several occasions.
Parish chairman Cllr David Reed said: “We’ve been complaining for years and Durham County Council came out about six years ago and said there wasn’t enough traffic to warrant a pedestrian crossing.
“It is a really, really busy road. Sometimes you can be standing five or ten minutes trying to cross.”
People at Evenwood Gate gathered hundreds of signatures in support of a reduction in the 40mph speed limit through the hamlet because of the risk posed by the junction to Evenwood.
Evenwood and Barony Parish Council believes the problem will become worse when new houses are built at the site of the demolished Brown Jug Inn, off the A688.
However, the county council’s head of transport, Adrian White, said statistics did not highlight a problem in either Staindrop or Evenwood Gate.
He added: “The safety of residents across County Durham is our number one priority and we would like to reassure everyone that we closely monitor accident rates on all of our roads.
“Although nothing in the accident statistics suggests that there are any ongoing issues in either Evenwood Gate or Staindrop, work is already scheduled in to install interactive speed signs on other areas of the road in the new year to increase safety.”