Council plans to make road changes where boy was killed in motorbike crash
By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter
A council plans to add a 20mph zone and speed bump to a road where an eight-year-old boy was killed in a collision earlier this year.
Greenwich council has set out plans to add traffic calming measures to Plumstead Road.
The plans come after the young boy died from being hit by a motorbike while crossing the road at its junction with Lenton Street in February.
The boy’s father and ten-year-old brother were also hospitalised after the incident, as well as the motorcycle driver involved. The boy and his family were said to have been walking to the Greenwich Islamic Centre at the time.
The topic was discussed at a highways committee meeting for Greenwich council on November 8, after a petition to add traffic calming measures to the road received 1,860 signatures.
Maryam Hassan, a member of Greenwich Islamic Centre, said at the meeting that she was involved in an accident at the same spot on Plumstead Road in December 2018. She said she was hospitalised for three weeks as a result and has since had to attend therapy to deal with her anxiety that arose from the incident.
Ms Hassan said at the meeting: “I broke my leg and had an emergency operation to fix it and they had to put metal in my leg which stays forever. I scraped my head and got a concussion but it wasn’t too bad luckily. I kind of lost my memory for a bit and it came back after the night.”
Plumstead resident Akin Loye said he was concerned the council had not done enough to address the issue in the 10 months since the incident in February. Labour councillor Olu Babatola said in response that all council members saw the loss of life as a priority to add safety measure to the road.
Council documents said Plumstead Road currently has a speed limit of 30mph and has a particularly high footfall due to the nearby mosque and train station.
The highways committee agreed at the meeting to suggest a 20mph zone be added to the road as soon as possible, along with a speed bump, and increasing the time available for people to cross the road.
The recommendations of the committee will be presented to the full council at a meeting on December 6.
Pictured top: Plumstead Road, where the incident in February of this year took place (Picture: Google Earth)
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