Personally Speaking: ‘Vital to keep checking on accident blackspot’

My Personally Speaking Column in the Sentinel (23 October 2025)

There aren’t many drivers around Newcastle-under-Lyme who don’t know the A500 Audley slip road – a stretch of road that’s become an accident blackspot.

Near-misses and collisions are now all too familiar, and residents have every right to be worried about their safety.

In recent months, I’ve heard from many people who use this junction every day.

They’ve told me about cars ending up in ditches, about having to brake suddenly to avoid a crash, and about the sense of dread that’s crept in whenever they approach it.

When people are telling you they feel unsafe, it’s important to listen – and even more important to act.

This particular junction, where the slip road joins Alsager Road, is shared between Staffordshire County Council, who have responsibility for Alsager Road, and National Highways, who manage the slip road itself.

I’ve raised this issue again and again – writing to both the county council and National Highways to press for action and make sure local concerns are not ignored.

At every stage, I’ve made clear that this junction simply isn’t fit for purpose.

Unfortunately, the initial responses were disappointing – I was told that the junction didn’t meet the threshold for further investigation or action, which led to cautious responses and little urgency.

The view seemed to be that, until the data showed a consistent pattern of collisions, there was no case for further work.

But to anyone who knows the area, that simply doesn’t reflect reality.

When people are being injured, and when the number of near-misses keeps rising, waiting for the statistics to catch up isn’t good enough.

After receiving unsatisfactory responses from both Staffordshire County Council and National Highways, I wrote to the Secretary of State for Transport to make clear how serious the situation had become and to ask for urgent intervention.

I also reached out to the community and launched a petition calling for action. More than 260 residents added their names, and I took that petition to Parliament last week to ensure our concerns were heard directly on the floor of the House of Commons.

I’m pleased that this week we’ve had a response from the Government. The Minister for Roads has confirmed that National Highways will put up temporary signage to improve driver awareness, followed by upgraded permanent signs at the top of the slip road to make the junction clearer and safer.

This is an important step forward – and a sign that the concerns of local people are finally being taken seriously.

Without the residents who took the time to write, sign the petition, and share their experiences, we would not have reached this point.

This progress is welcome, but it’s vital that the situation continues to be monitored closely.

Temporary and upgraded signs are a strong first step, but we need to see whether they genuinely reduce the number of incidents and near misses.

If there’s no real improvement, further work to understand the causes – and explore additional safety measures – will be essential.

I’ve invited National Highways to meet me at the site in the coming weeks so we can review the impact of these changes and ensure that local voices continue to be heard as this process moves forward.

For me, this has always been about listening to local people and acting on their concerns.

It’s about making sure that when residents speak up about something that’s putting them at risk, their voices aren’t ignored or dismissed.

That principle – that people should be heard and respected – is at the heart of what I try to do every day as your Member of Parliament.

As we approach Armistice Day, I look forward to joining people across North Staffordshire in remembering those who gave their lives in service to our country.

It’s a moment to reflect on duty, community, and the responsibility we all share to make our country safer, fairer, and better for the generations after us.

I hope you’ll take the opportunity to stop and remember on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.