CONCERNED residents have forced a council to act following petitions calling for traffic-calming measures in Sunninghill.

Two separate petitions were submitted to a full Royal Borough meeting in December after residents noticed motorists travelling along roads at what they considered to be dangerously high speeds.

Louise Bollands, of Park Crescent, submitted a 271-signature petition concerning Kings Road and Rise Road.

An incident that she witnessed in August, which involved a neighbour’s son getting knocked off his bike by a car travelling along Rise Road, prompted her to act.

“It was really dramatic and awful to see. That accident really spurred me on to do something because I thought somebody is going to get killed at this rate,” she said. “I can hear the cars speeding from my house and I just think to myself, what are you doing? Everybody does it. It’s no-one in particular.” A 20mph speed limit begins in Kings Road at the junction with High Street, before changing to 30mph and then into 40mph as it moves into Rise Road.

Mrs Bollands is calling for the 40mph section of the road to be reduced to 30mph, to discourage drivers from driving at higher speeds. She also believes that a chicane, instead of a speed hump, would be the ideal solution to curbing the problem.

She added: “You can still go over a speed hump at quite a rate before damaging your car so a chicane would at least force vehicles on both sides of the road to slow down.” After the council meeting, councillors agreed that a pot of cash would be set aside to implement a zebra crossing at the lower end of Kings Road as a safe crossing point.

Speed tests will also be conducted on both roads later in the year with a view to installing further traffic-calming measures.

Fellow Sunninghill resident Simon Roberts also submitted a similar petition, comprising 223 signatures, concerning Bagshot Road from the village’s High Street.

After reviewing the petition and conducting speed tests the Royal Borough and Sunninghill and Ascot Parish Council agreed on a traffic-calming measure where a pinch point and speed cushion will be installed on the road opposite the junction with Fox Covert Close later this month.

Mr Roberts said: “I think the message is getting through that people are very concerned about speeding in the local area.

“A special mention has to go to the people of Sunninghill because without all the support they gave me I would not have been encouraged to pursue this. It will make a big difference.”