Dave Dempsey has asked the Council to get a quote to install a refuge island on the B916, the road just off of the B981 between Inverkeithing and Fordell – a stretch of road that is notorious for road traffic collisions.
He said: “Through 2024, I’ve been trying to find a way to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to get across the B916 Clockluinie Road at Fordell.
“Many of the residents there depend on busses and it’s disconcerting and alarming to have to cross a fast and busy road with poor sightlines.
“Fife Council’s Transportation Service has explained that this location doesn’t meet the requirements for a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights and I have to accept that.
“They offered to restore some ‘Elderly Persons Crossing’ signs that used to be there and that might help but it’s not a solution. Lowering the speed limit isn’t the answer either as much of the danger comes from those who don’t observe speed limits.”
The area has seen a number of accidents in recent years, with Cllr Dave Barratt campaigning for safety measures on the main road next to Clockluinie Road.
In March of last year, Cllr Barratt welcomed the drawing up of a road accident reduction plan, hoping that increased safety measures would positively impact the road.
He previously told the Press: “That has been years in the making. It is a regular accident spot. There are always cars crashing there.
“They don’t always meet a threshold that triggers the police to notify the council about them because unless there are injuries, it doesn’t necessarily trigger those statistics but there have been sufficient numbers of incidents to warrant looking at an accident reduction programme.
“I’ve been asking for measures including flashing speed indicators, chevrons or higher friction surfacing.
“The council is looking at the feasibility of all possible options there and will be bringing something forward that looks at all the key factors in the accidents, which I think is largely down to speed, to be honest, but inherently because of that stretch being quite sheltered and through woodland, the runoff that comes from the woodland is greasier so there are issues inherent to that location that make it more accident prone.”
While the Council do not think that a pedestrian crossing is required on Clockluinie Road, Cllr Dempsey isn’t ready to give up just yet and has asked officers to look at an alternative measure.
He added: “However, that’s not the end of the story. I’ve asked council officers to look at and price up an island in the middle of the road to act as a refuge so that pedestrians only have to worry about one line of traffic at a time.
“After that, it’ll be down to budgets and priorities, as always. This project has a bit to go yet.”