“I don’t want to see someone bouncing over a bonnet outside the office.” That’s the concern of Ben Mitchell, from Parkers estate agents in Spencers Wood.
The co-owner of the firm said drivers have been speeding up the road since they opened in July 2019.
“At that time, people were parking cars and vans on the road in a makeshift chicane to slow drivers down,” he said. “But I was picking up a lot of broken wing mirrors.”
Basingstoke Road is 40mph, and repeated calls have been made to reduce the limit to 30mph.
Mr Mitchell is now pushing for a Pelican Crossing, to help villagers cross the street.
“There’s a lot of elderly in and around the village,” he said. “I see near misses all the time. People have nowhere to cross the road safely.”
With the village hall, The Farriers Arms and St Michael & All Angels Church clustered together, Mr Mitchell said there are a lot of “big amenities” villagers are trying to reach without a safe route.
“In the last month, I’ve seen five or six near misses,” he added. “You hear this screech of brakes.”
After contacting the borough council, Mr Mitchell said he was told to expect a crossing within a year to 18 months.
“The council should just get it sorted,” he said. “Get it done and claim it back off developers if you have to, but don’t wait for someone else to fund it.”
Mr Mitchell believes cars are regularly exceeding the 40mph limit, and reaching speeds of 50 and 60mph.
“There’s no traffic calming at all –no speed cameras,” he said. “As soon as people drive up the hill, they put their foot down.”
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, said: “We’ve been working with the parish council and housing developers in Shinfield on proposals for a number of improvements across the road network, serving both the new development areas as well as the existing resident and business communities.
“This includes pursuing many of the measures requested by the community to support walking routes to schools, access to shops and employment and safe, accessible connections to public transport and the major road network.”
Cllr Jim Frewin, independent councillor for Shinfield said he supported Mr Mitchell’s calls.
“We’ve been pushing for a change of speed limit for years,” he said. “It’s a very fast road.”
He would also like to see the roundabout where the Basingstoke Road meets Church Lane in Three Mile Cross to be improved.
“It’s not very safe,” he said. “They need to deliver what was promised and change it to traffic lights.”
Cllr Jorgensen said the next year to 18 months, the roundabout will be changed to traffic lights with pedestrian crossing.
She said there will also be a project to install traffic calming measures and reduce the speed limit on Basingstoke Road, between the A33 junction and Beech Hill Road.
“As each of these measures progress, residents affected by the proposals will be consulted directly and others will have the opportunity to comment via the council’s online consultation portal,” she said.
“As your highway authority, we are always pleased to receive recommendations for improvements that make it safer and easier for people to get around, with residents able to make requests via our website.”
