Road safety move at West Bromwich accident blackspot
Action could be taken to make a major West Bromwich road safer for visitors heading to a beauty spot following a death and numerous accidents.
Proposals have been put forward to reduce the speed limit and install a pedestrian crossing along Forge Lane and Park Lane, which runs near Sandwell Valley Country Park.
The road has been the scene of numerous accidents, including a collision as recently as December 17.
In May last year, 39-year-old Sheler Galli died of multiple injuries after a crash involving a car and a minibus on Park Lane.
Sandwell Council's Highways team has been asked to provide an update on how traffic speed on the road, which is currently the national limit of 60mph for a single carriageway, could be controlled.
A report to the Sandwell Local Access Forum also revealed that the council wished to reduce the limit to enable safer crossing of the road, and to access the walking routes on each side of Sandwell Valley.
Cabinet member for highways and environment, Councillor David Hosell, said: "It is a very dangerous road, with people driving excessively fast.
"There have been accidents and quite a few of them.
"It is a road used by many people, including by visitors to Sandwell Valley. But there are not footpaths for them to walk safely along the road.
"As part of the it also comes under the responsibility of Birmingham City Council, we are working with them on this.
"We are waiting for the update from highways officers."
Councillor Hosell said he believed speeds along the road should be reduced by half to 30 miles per hour.
"That would be more than fast enough for that road," he said.
Birmingham City Council's assistant director for highways and infrastructure, Kevin Hicks, said they were currently in discussions with Sandwell Council with a view to lowering the speed limit for the stretch of road to 30mph.
"We will then consult with the police and councillors for both areas before moving forward with public consultation on a proposal," he said.
Calls were also made by councillors in 2014 to slash the speed limit down to 40 miles per hour but the road currently remains unrestricted. In April, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard how driver Shvan Taib's Peugeot had spun across Park Lane into the path of the white Ford Transit minibus, hitting it side-on.
His female cousin and close friend, Sheler Galli, died of multiple injuries as a result of the collision on the road near to Hill Top Golf Course.
The 45-year-old from Walsall claimed that the minibus shunted into the back of him. But he was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to four months in jail, which was suspended for 18 months.
