ESSEX roads boss Rodney Bass has made a plea to the Government's Highways Agency for urgent safety improvements on the A12 after a spate of serious accidents.
Essex County Council's cabinet member for highways and transportation has drawn-up a four-point wish list which he believes could improve safety on the notorious road and save lives after seven crashes involving 27 vehicles in just one month, which left 11 injured and one dead.
The Conservative wants arrow markings painted on the road to help drivers maintain a safe distance from the vehicle in front, a ban on HGVs overtaking between 6am and 8pm and signs on both sides of the Witham Bypass saying "Slow Down", "Maintain Distance" and "Keep Alert".
He is also calling for the restoration of A12 police patrols, which were cut due to budget constraints, and is offering taxpayers' cash to part-finance them.
"Safety is of the utmost importance for our residents and I would like to see the Highways Agency and the Government take these actions as soon as possible," he said.
"Something needs to be done urgently. I'm not asking for it to be widened, although I do believe it should be a motorway," added Cllr Bass, who regularly uses the A12 to travel from his Wickham Bishops home to County Hall.
"Essex County Council is prepared to put £100,000 to set up police patrols again, which were really good at preventing accidents and improving road safety."
On Wednesday morning last week two crashes involving a total of ten vehicles brought the A12 London-bound carriageway to a standstill. The first, involving three cars, was at 6.25am between junction 21 at Witham and junction 20b at Hatfield Peverel.
The second crash at 7am involved seven vehicles, including a lorry, at junction 20 Hatfield Peverel. A lorry driver has been questioned by police on suspicion of careless driving.
On June 19 seven people were injured, including two young boys, in a five vehicle accident that blocked the London-bound A12 between Howe Green and Galleywood.
On June 21 former beauty queen champion Bonnie Hiller from Tiptree was killed when her Mercedes crashed into a bridge support at Kelvedon.
Three months ago Essex Police announced officers would be stepping up an operation to reduce collisions on the trunk road.
The Highways Agency said chevron arrow markings would be unsuitable for the A12 as "traffic speeds are inconsistent due to the frequency of junctions".
A spokesman said: "We're committed to keeping the roads safe and reliable. Just recently we announced the A12 Kelvedon resurfacing scheme which covers about 3,000 square metres of surfacing, with an estimated scheme cost of £500,000.
"Margaretting bypass resurfacing and two pinch point schemes – Kelvedon and Hughes Corner average speed camera.
"Restricting heavy vehicles from overtaking can make journeys more reliable and improve safety. However, this solution is not appropriate for all sections of our network.
"Preventing lorries from overtaking requires all lorries to travel at the same speed as the slowest vehicle.
"This can result in long lines of unbroken traffic in lane one, preventing other drivers from joining or leaving the road.
"We have previously investigated a lorry overtaking trial for the A12, but due to the frequency of junctions believe this would not provide an effective method of reducing congestion."
But Cllr Bass was adamant it should be done, adding: "I'm making four tangible suggestions to improve safety, all these measures will help reduce the number of incidents. If the Highways Agency don't want to listen then we are going to see more and more accidents on the A12.
"Until lorries stop making dangerous manoeuvres and take greater care and attention, incidents will increase, the road haulage industry must make big adjustments in the way they drive on the A12.
"If you ask the people of Essex what we should do, they would say do all four suggestions.
"The A12 is an express way and should be treated as such. The M11 trialled a ban on overtaking lorries and everyone could see how well that worked and wanted that trial brought back."
