New 40mph speed limit to combat series of crashes on Daventry district road

Concerns were raised over a stretch of the A428 running between the Long Buckby turn and Althorp after that stretch saw several crashes in recent months.

Due to the nature of the crashes and the road itself, it has been frequently closed as emergency services work to clear up.

In all instances the most people suffered were minor injuries – however, this meant the crashes were not being flagged up as something for the authorities to be concerned about.

There have been several lorries crashing into the low rail bridge at Althorp, and a number of vehicles which have come off the road and ended up in the ditch.

Following the most recent incident on July 24 when a car flipped and skidded across the road, Sgt Sam Dobbs requested a report be conducted on the state of the road by the Safety Community Partnership. Accident data shows there have been nine incidents on that stretch of road this year, up on previous years.

There are warning signs for the bends and the low bridge, and an advisory 40mph limit on stretches.

Now the safety partnership and Northamptonshire County Council have examined the data and the road itself.

Sgt Dobbs said all warning signs would be cleaned and vegetation cut back to make them more visible.

He added: “This includes sorting trees obscuring height restriction signs for the Althorp bridge, the step between the road and kerb to be sorted, and the 40mph will become mandatory. But this remains rural road requiring drivers’ care, caution and observance of signs.”

A spokesman for Northamptonshire County Council said: “There is currently an advisory 40mph limit on the approaches to the bends and we are in the process of upgrading this to a legal 40mph speed limit.

“This stretch of road has not been a Red Route since 2006 but it is still monitored.”