Brent Road where ‘wheelie’ motorbikes could hit 20mph limit after 14 crashes in 5 years

A road that has seen 14 accidents in the past five years could be turned into a 20mph zone. Concerns about the “very dangerous” Brent street were initially raised by a member of the public last year who said collisions were so common that residents had stopped parking along it.

Brent Council has submitted plans to convert Wrottesley Road from a 30mph road to a 20mph road following an analysis of the places with the highest number of road collisions. The administration hopes the changes will reduce the number of accidents while also making walking and cycling safer in the area.

Since 2019, there have been 14 accidents resulting in 15 people injured on Wrottesley Road, according to figures released by the council – two involving pedestrians, one passenger and two cyclists. Of those, three sustained serious injuries and another 12 resulted in multiple minor injuries.

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The plans are available for public consultation until May 31. If approved, 20mph signs will be fixed along the area, with ’20MPH’ and ‘SLOW’ markings placed along Wrottesley Road to identify them. All redundant signs and posts will then be removed, which the council claims will “reduce congestion on the street and improve (the) street scene”.

A council report states: “Committing to the London Strategy, the Mayor’s Zero Vision and to improve road safety in the borough, we identify the roads and locations in Brent with the highest number of road collisions each year. We are looking at selected locations to introduce road safety measures to reduce accidents and injuries, thereby improving road safety.”

The dangerous nature of Wrottesley Road was first raised by a resident, Mr Richard, at a Full Council meeting last year (July 10). At the time, he did not know the road was a 30mph zone and, because of the frequency of collisions, had called for better signage to make drivers aware of the 20mph limit.

Mr Richards said: “I doubt any other residential road in Brent has as many accidents as this road. (…) Because of the regular collisions on this road, residents tend not to park on it, which allows speeding drivers even more freedom.”

He added: “Motorcyclists especially like doing wheelies on it. Although there have been no fatalities yet, it is very dangerous for pedestrians to cross – noting that we have Furness Road Primary School nearby and the dangerous crossing at the junction of Wrottesley Road and Funess Road which is used by very young children.”

At the time, Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure and Climate Action, Cllr Krupa Sheth, advised that the road was a 30mph zone, but said the level of funding and resources available to deal with these types of requests “are not sufficient to meet the demand”. ‘ and would be prioritized by the level of benefit they would have down the road.

She said the most recent data showed three crashes over a three-year period to 2022 and, based on this information, it was “unlikely that Wrottesley Road would be prioritized for traffic calming measures compared to other roads in neighborhood that are evaluated as having a higher priority’. However, it now appears that more updated data has prompted plans to lower the speed limit.

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