Councillors in Northumberland are calling for urgent improvements to junctions on the A1 following another collision that closed the road for several hours.
Emergency services were called to a two-car crash at the Paxton junction near Berwick on Sunday. No serious injuries were reported, but the road was closed from mid-morning until noon to allow for vehicle recovery. This incident is the latest in a series of accidents on the A1 in Northumberland, many involving junctions on single-carriageway sections.
Growing Calls for Action
There have been increasing demands for the road to be dualled in recent months, but campaigners stress that junction upgrades are vital in the meantime. Councillor Isabel Hunter, who represents the Berwick West with Ord ward on Northumberland County Council, said she avoids the Paxton junction whenever possible.
She said: "It's a junction that if I'm going that way, I tend to go further north and come back down at the Duns junction which has a slip road. There was gridlock in the town on Sunday. The junctions need to be improved. I just don't know what we're going to do, the volume of traffic is increasing."
Hunter added: "They say this is the holiday season, but there never seems to be a quiet period now. We need junction improvements and we need something done as soon as we can. I'm not interested in politics, I just want to see the A1 dualled. We have to keep on that."
Campaign to Dual the A1
The Chronicle and Journal are leading a new campaign to dual the A1, bringing together political, business and community leaders to support the call after a number of recent deaths on the road. A petition launched alongside the campaign has already secured nearly 3,000 signatures.
The previous Friday, a man was killed and his passenger seriously injured at the nearby Belford junction after his car hit a lorry when joining the road. Councillor Guy Renner Thompson, who represents the Bamburgh ward, said some of the more dangerous A1 junctions should be removed altogether.
He said: "We know the junctions need improving. This is where all the crashes seem to be. In summer, there's lots more tourists that are around who don't know the roads as well. On top of dualling, the junctions need to be a priority. There are several which need to be just removed altogether. Anything where you have got to sit in the middle of the A1 waiting to turn is a nightmare."
Renner Thompson added: "The dualling is the only real answer, but the junction safety needs to be done now. The Government has said it will do this, but it's coming up on two years since that now - we're looking at years before any kind of progress."
The Government has said it is "actively working on solutions for this stretch of the A1 that could improve safety and congestion as part of the third Road Investment Strategy".
