A MULTI-MILLION pound roundabout near Malvern opened to drivers before major safety issues were publicly exposed because of a number of administration errors – it has been revealed.
Reasons behind the £8million Ketch Island fiasco were revealed at County Hall when Worcestershire County Council’s director for business, environment and community John Hobbs told councillors at a scrutiny meeting the three main findings of an investigation into the botched works which happened last year.
The Ketch Roundabout – used as one of the main routes into Malvern – opened to the public last May but safety issues were exposed in the public domain when county councillor Tom Wells, who represents nearby Powick and other areas in the Malvern district, uploaded a video on his Facebook page.
Viewed by more than 86,000 people, the video showed drivers having to brake harshly, after realising they were in a merger lane, to avoid a head-on crash at the Carrington Road Bridge exit.
Following the video and a submitted 1,000 plus signature petition, vital changes to the roundabout were made by the county council so any potential crashes would be avoided. But a number of investigations then followed looking into what went wrong.
Several months on, the council revealed the investigation found:
1.A key safety assessment document containing a warning about a serious risk of ‘head on’ accidents because of its initial layout was not passed onto the designers of the scheme for their response.
2.The island was signed off as complete despite there being a significant number of incomplete jobs such as road markings.
3.The island was opened “a week ahead of schedule” before senior council bosses expected which lead to a number of staff being disciplined.
Mr Hobbs said at the meeting on Friday (January 22): “Critically, the addendum to the safety audit included the following words: ‘Problem traffic travelling towards Malvern from eastern direction have just prior to Carrington Road Bridge a short length of carriageway in which they have to merge.
‘Summary, west bound traffic whilst competing for road space maybe subject to side swipe collisions as the two lanes merges into a single lane. Moreover this could lead to a potential head on collision should the traffic fail to merge’.
“This document had not been sent to the designers for their response.”
Mr Hobbs added the fiasco had ‘sharpened’ up the council’s work force and said vital improvements had been put into place as a result.
“We’ve never had a safety glitch like this before and there’s no brilliant explanation for why it happened,” he added.
“The project management structure of major projects has been reconfigured and the role of ‘clerk of works’ has been introduced which is supportive of the project team. And we now conduct a drive-ability test for all major projects.
“This was a fundamental road safety issue and road safety continues to be the main priority for Worcestershire Highways.”
Coun Wells told the Observer he was pleased the council have responded following the ordeal but said it could have lead to devastating circumstances.
“I’m pleased the director has accepted my criticism and will now ensure there is proper strategic management of future major road schemes in place,” he said.
“It is my view action was only taken following my Facebook campaign, which is concerning. Without my campaign it may have took a tragedy which would have prompted the council to take action.”
Coun Wells added he was blown away by the support his Facebook video had and said he learned how social media can be a very good campaigning tool.
