COVENTRY council has been forced to remove more misleading road signs, despite publicly asserting they were ‘fully compliant’ just two years ago.
Just days after removing a one-way sign on a two-way street at the junction of Park Road and Manor Road, a council officer has confirmed the suspicions of a campaigner that a ‘withflow’ bus lane sign on Stoney Road is also incorrect and will now be removed.
Following 15 months of campaigning and being rebuffed by Coventry councillors, Westwood resident Richard Heneghan has been proved right in his assertions that ‘potentially dangerous’ road signs had been installed around the city.
He argued the bus lane sign after the start on the bus gate at the start of Stoney Road could, if read correctly, see motorists driving on the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic.
If read correctly, some drivers could end up driving on the right-hand side of the road into incoming traffic. s
And now, after confirming an investigation into the sign on Twitter on November 22, a council officer has admitted the sign was incorrectly used on that stretch of road and would be removed.
In an email to Coun Tim Mayer, on November 30 the officer wrote: “I can confirm we have received the signage at the location and have removed the sign you have referred to which is after the bus gate.
“This sign should not have been used in this situation.”
But the decision signals a u-turn on assertions made in January 2014 when a council spokesperson told the media: “The signs installed to make people aware of the bus lane on Stoney Road comply with legal requirements.”
Mr Heneghan has also been publicly rebuffed by former cabinet member for city services Coun Rachel Lancaster and current cabinet member Coun Jayne Innes in full council meetings this year when both asserted that all road signage in Coventry was DfT compliant.
Conservative Westwood councillor, Tim Mayer is now calling on Couns Lancaster and Innes to apologise to Mr Heneghan.
Coun Tim Mayer. s
He told the Observer: “It is not right that a resident of this city when raising concerns about safety through inaccurate and dangerous road signage, is effectively silenced.
“It appears Coun Lancaster, and Coun Innes have made every effort to silence him due to his persistent approach and communication style.
“The only way he got any recognition was to utilise Conservative MP Sir Alan Duncan and Cov South Labour MP Jim
Cunningham and finally a public platform like Twitter to try and get some action done.”
