Downley roundabout an 'accident waiting to happen' (From Bucks Free Press)

Downley roundabout an 'accident waiting to happen'

6:00pm Monday 13th July 2009

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CONFUSED motorists have been left scratching their heads after a mini roundabout popped up on the junction of a Downley road with one resident claiming it is an “accident waiting to happen”.

The roundabout at the junction of Plomer Green Lane and School Lane was built early last week as part the new Downley Park housing development built by Barratt Homes.

But conflicting road signs and markings has left residents and motorists confused as to which manoeuvre they should perform on reaching the roundabout - with one angry resident warning “someone will get hurt.”

Plomer Green Lane resident Malcom Wyatt, 51, said: “When you come up the road towards the Downley Donkey the signs and road markings say the roundabout is in use.

“But then if you come from the other direction, a sign says 'new roundabout ahead' but all the other signs are covered up, on top of which, the markings either side of the roundabout are still set up as a T junction – nobody has any idea what to do.

“If it is not sorted out soon, there is going to be a big accident there and someone will get hurt because we're in a position where some people will treat it like a roundabout and give way to the right and others will just drive on like it's a T junction.”

School Road resident Gavin Lane, 27, said the roundabout was 'strange' and questioned the need to change the 'perfectly workable' T Junction into a roundabout.

He added: “It's just a bad place to put a roundabout, there's not enough room to swing a car around there, it seems to be in the wrong place and people just don't know what to do when they get there.”

Buckinghamshire County Council spokesman Si Khan said an inspector would be visiting the site to check guidelines had been met but added the junction was the responsibility of Barratts as part of the original planning application.

She added: “We'll be making sure Barratt Homes meets the criteria and guidelines set out and we will be working hard to make sure the situation is rectified as soon as possible.”

Barratt's technical director Phil Jones said: “The signs saying 'roundabout in use' is being covered.

“We envisage the road markings being painted in the next few days and the roundabout will be in use shortly after that.”

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