Speed cameras at heart of A1 safety campaign

SPEED cameras are the new focus of a campaign to improve safety on a notorious stretch of dual carriageway.

Members of Buckden WI have vowed to battle for improvements at the A1 roundabout at the village before someone is seriously hurt or killed.

Branch president Patricia King said she had received lots of telephone calls from people supporting the idea since it was highlighted in The Hunts Post two weeks ago.

She raised the issue with Buckden Parish Council at its March meeting, and councillors said they had been asking for action to be taken for 20 years.

WI members had suggested traffic lights would slow traffic, but installing signals has been ruled out by the Highways Agency.

Another option is cameras measuring average speed on the A1 between Brampton and Little Paxton, including the Southoe bends where there have been a number of accidents.

“That’s what we will advance, if we can,” said Mrs King, who met Huntingdon MP Jonathan Djanogly on Friday (March 22) to discuss the matter.

Meanwhile, she said the near-misses had continued, including one involving a woman she met by chance at Waterside Leisure Club in Buckden last Tuesday (March 19).

“She was as white as a sheet and we asked if he was OK,” Mrs King said. “She said it had been slightly foggy and, when she had turned into the village, a lorry came down the A1 and nearly wiped her out. After the incident on the roundabout she stopped to collect herself and someone else stopped to see if she was all right.”