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Changes to be made to blackspot New Forest junction – five years after second cyclist death there

Work is starting to replace Ipley crossroads with a staggered junction

Safety changes are finally being made to a junction in the New Forest – five years after the death of a second cyclist there, and three years after it was branded one of the most dangerous junctions in the country for people on bikes.

Hampshire County Council says that works costing £457,000 to replace Ipley crossroads, between Lyndhurst and Dibden, with a staggered junction will take around six weeks to complete.

Within the past two decades, there have been more than 50 road traffic collisions at the junction, with two cyclists losing their lives there in recent years – Mark Brummell in 2012, and Kieran Dix in 2016.

Last year, Dave Bensley sustained serious head and leg injuries after he was hit by a driver while on a ride with fellow members of Southampton Cycling and Touring Club.

> Cyclist seriously injured at New Forest crossroads highlighted as blackspot after two riders were killed

The New Forest National Park Authority (NFNPA) approved plans for the realignment of the junction in January.

In a report, it acknowledged that there are ‘Stop’ markings on the junction, but said: “The open nature of the crossroads has resulted in many drivers ignoring road safety at this junction and driving straight over the C63 Beaulieu Road without giving way.”

Hampshire County Council has now secured approval from the government to change the crossroads to a staggered junction.

It said: “The council is working closely the New Forest National Park Authority, Verderers, Natural England and Forestry England to make sure the scheme is carried out sensitively in this unique part of Hampshire.

“The council is in close contact with the nearby residents and local businesses to keep them fully informed, and this will continue during the construction phases.”

After Mr Bensley was injured last year, Southampton Cycling and Touring Club chairman, Paul Raysfield, said: “Dave was thrown about 30ft in the air and landed face down in a ditch full of water.

“We got him out and cleared his airway but could tell he had broken bones. When the paramedics arrived they pumped him full of morphine.

“That junction has a history of deaths and serious injuries,” he added.

He called for a staggered junction to be introduced at the location, saying that it would make it safer by making drivers stop.

He explained: “At the moment motorists think they can see everything – but sometimes they don't.”

In 2018, responding to a call from New Forest East MP Julian Lewis for cyclists to be required to have bells on their bikes,  Cycling UK’s head of campaigns, Duncan Dollimore, highlighted the two cyclists killed at the junction, which lies within the Conservative politician’s constituency.

> New Forest MP calls for mandatory bike bells

He pointed out that Lewis had previously claimed in a Commons debate that cyclists were a danger to livestock despite no recorded instances over the previous 15 years of an animal being killed or injured in an incident involving a cyclist, but numerous incidents involving motorists.

“This time it's speeding cyclists without bells that concerns him, but not a word about speeding drivers or the evidence about what presents the greatest risk,” he said.

“If Mr Lewis is truly concerned about road safety in the New Forest he could focus his attention on the collision blackspot in his own constituency, the unsafe junction at Ipley Cross, where cyclists Kieran Dix and Mark Brummell have both lost their lives in recent years, with several other collisions reported to the police.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
brooksby | 3 years ago
1 like

Really looks like somewhere a musician would go to wait for the Devil...

(Seconding ktache below - the Beyond the Kerb blog covered this junction and the science behind the problems they have there, years ago).

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kil0ran replied to brooksby | 3 years ago
0 likes

Being the east side of the Forest I have to agree with you. Roads out that way are flat and open, perfect echelon territory. Fortunately I live on the western edge so I'm rarely over that way.

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Organon | 3 years ago
6 likes
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IanMK replied to Organon | 3 years ago
8 likes

Unbelievable, a guy with a camera and still cars plough through without stopping. The problem is surely lack of enforcement. A discreet camera and 3 points for anybody that fails to stop would surely do the trick.
I submitted some footage of a driver coming straight at me through a give way to oncoming vehicles sign yesterday. I'm sure they'll ignore it as I was in no danger, but surely we shouldn't be waiting for people to get hurt or worse before we educate drivers as to their responsibilities.

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AlsoSomniloquism replied to Organon | 3 years ago
1 like

I don't normally watch his videos but at least he got the problem out to more then just a few cycling sites. I wonder if the timings of finally making a decision might have come from this videos impact, especially as it blantantly shows cars blasting through the stop signs. 

Although it is depressing he posted an "update" from seven months ago about the planning being approved finally and still nothing has been done. 

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usedtobefaster | 3 years ago
5 likes

I rode through here today (Sep 8) and the works haven't started yet and there's no sign of any activity.

The change was approved earlier this year and was due to start around May but was postponed because objections over disruption to ground nesting birds.  Birds over humans, tells you all you need to know about the residents and powers in the NF

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Awavey replied to usedtobefaster | 3 years ago
9 likes

well it is illegal to disturb nesting birds, Wildlife & Countryside act, the majority of  ground nesting birds in the New Forest are on the red list, so moan that it took 5 years to even make a decision to do the change, dont blame laws intended to protect wildlife habitats that it takes a few months longer.

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kil0ran replied to usedtobefaster | 3 years ago
0 likes

Nothing to do with residents and the national park/New Forest. Had they started in May I'd have cycled up there and gathered evidence for the prosecution. It's illegal to disturb any bird whilst it's nesting (which is why you might see developers netting hedges and buildings due for demolition) and there are even stiffer penalties for Schedule 1 red list birds (which most ground nesters are).

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hawkinspeter replied to usedtobefaster | 3 years ago
1 like

usedtobefaster wrote:

I rode through here today (Sep 8) and the works haven't started yet and there's no sign of any activity.

The change was approved earlier this year and was due to start around May but was postponed because objections over disruption to ground nesting birds.  Birds over humans, tells you all you need to know about the residents and powers in the NF

I've got nothing against protecting wildlife, but this again demonstrates why there needs to be an immediate control on the motorised traffic if it is causing danger to life. It'd be better to keep on restricting motor traffic through that junction for a few months to avoid disrupting the nesting.

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ktache | 3 years ago
5 likes

Good, Bez on his Beyond thekerb did an excellent peice on this junction.

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hawkinspeter replied to ktache | 3 years ago
6 likes

ktache wrote:

Good, Bez on his Beyond thekerb did an excellent peice on this junction.

Indeed he did: https://beyondthekerb.org.uk/collision-course/

This kind of slow reaction is confirming my belief that we need to tackle "dangerous" junctions in a much more direct fashion. As soon as there's a fatality (or a significant number of collisions), the junction should have been closed to motor traffic until remediation could be put in place. The remediation could just be something as simple as temporary traffic lights in this particular case until something more permanent can be installed.

It seems kinda backwards that the changes have to be approved (I know that obviously all road changes do have to be approved), whereas leaving a known danger to life in place seems to be an acceptable outcome to the council for a few years.

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kil0ran replied to hawkinspeter | 3 years ago
3 likes

There's a junction near where I grew up where a mother and two children in a buggy were killed, just three of several fatalities over the past decades. Took them 20 years to finally put in a pedestrian crossing because it still wasn't seen as a priority as it was "just one of those things". It's a steep downhill bend with overhanging trees with a footpath from a playpark at the foot. Visibility non-existent for large vehicles when the trees are in leaf.

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