MPs call for safety improvements to major road

The MPs said a slip road onto the A34 needed redesigning

A cross-party group of MPs are demanding urgent safety improvements to a major road

The group represent constituencies along a stretch of the A34 in the south of England and have written to the government over concerns about dangerous slip roads, poor junction visibility and inadequate merge lanes.

The joint letter is signed by Newbury MP Lee Dillon, Reading West and Mid Berkshire MP Olivia Bailey, Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover and North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse.

The Department for Transport said that alongside National Highways it was "considering potential improvements to the A34 between the M4 and the M40 as part of a pipeline of projects being considered for possible delivery".

Dillon said: "The A34 is a vital transport corridor, but too many of its junctions are outdated and dangerous."

Newbury MP Lee Dillon is part of a cross-party group calling for urgent safety action

He said the slip roads on the junctions at Chieveley and Speen to access the A34 were "perilously short and offer little time or space for drivers to merge safely onto a fast-moving dual carriageway".

"We are deeply concerned that without urgent intervention, these junctions will continue to be the site of serious, and preventable, collisions," he added.

Glover said the road's condition was also a "growing issue" in Oxfordshire, while the "extremely short slip roads" at the Highclere and Wash Water junction were raised by Malthouse.

Malthouse said the situation was "even more alarming" at Bullington Cross and echoed Dillon's concerns over the Speen junction.

MP Olivia Bailey said she was concerned slip roads were too short

However, MP Olivia Bailey said she was "delighted" National Highways had been commissioned to undertake an assessment after making a case for it in parliament.

She said improvements on the slip roads at East Ilsley and Beedon were "an important next step towards making the slip roads safer".

The MPs are calling for the A34 to be prioritised in the Department for Transport's upcoming Road Investment Strategy (RIS3), alongside a full safety review.

"We need a strategic, well-funded plan," said Dillon. "People's lives should not be at risk every time they access the national road network."