A NORTH Cornwall county councillor has praised efforts to improve safety along one of the area’s dangerous roads.

After a long campaign to get a speed limit introduced at Langdon Cross - north of Launceston - after several accidents, Adam Paynter, councillor for Launceston North and North Petherwin, has expressed his delight that new signs have been installed.

He said: “It is a fast piece of road from Launceston to Red Post, there is poor visibility on the junction when coming out from the North Petherwin direction. You really have to take a chance when pulling out. Reducing the speeds make it so much safer.”

There has been growing concern from residents in the area that the road is too fast, leading to drivers taking the route without the required safety. Residents have also described feeling as though they were ‘taking their lives into their own hands’ every time they needed to cross the road, in order to access a bus stop for example.

Jane Bornton, a local resident said: “The 40mph speed limit now in place is making a real difference in terms of most vehicles travelling through the Langdon Cross section of the B3254 at reduced speeds. Not only is this safer for all our community, including children, the elderly and pets, it will help unite our community as it is safer to cross the road to keep in touch. For us, since we live across the main road, it also means safer access to the countryside with the network of footpaths around the parish of North Petherwin.”

Jane has thanked the local councillor for his efforts in getting the new speed limit introduced.

She continued: “We’re very grateful to Adam Paynter for all his efforts in getting the speed limit here lowered. When my children started at Launceston College we felt we were taking our life in our hands on a daily basis crossing the road to catch the school bus. We could check the road was clear both ways as far as we could see but by the time we reached the centre of the road there was often a car on our heels speeding up the hill from the Bude direction.

“Fortunately Go Cornwall Transport were very helpful and arranged to collect my children from outside our house so we didn’t have to cross the B3254 in the morning, although crossing back after school remained a daily issue.”

Finally, with the new 40mph limit in place, Jane hopes that the experience of drivers and local families along the stretch, is a safer one.

She concluded: “We’ve seen a number of collisions over the years near our house and now cars pulling out from the North Petherwin junction will be able to do so more safely.

“I hope to see some monitoring of the road to ensure drivers are adhering to the new limit. 40mph is not a target speed here, it’s the maximum speed any vehicle should travelling, hopefully some will be travelling at lower speeds!”