A34 East Ilsley: The story behind the ‘most dangerous’ accident black spot in West Berkshire

The decades-long saga of the “most dangerous stretch of road in the country” continues.

Olivia Bailey, MP for Reading West and Mid Berkshire, has secured a meeting and site visit with National Highways after speaking in Parliament yesterday (Thursday) about the dangerous A34 slip roads at East Ilsley and Beedon.

Roads minister Lilian Greenwood responded saying: “National Highways has undertaken several safety studies on sections of the A34.

“I’m aware that improvement works took on the East Ilsley slip in 2019, including work to widen resurface and add new road markings.”

Ms Bailey told newburytoday: “It’s clear that something needs to be done, and I am looking forward to meeting with National Highways to discuss the results of my survey [completed by 400 people].”

But she’s not the first.

A long line of councillors, MPs and campaigners have argued for improved safety along this controversial route.

The A34 was originally built in 1922 to connect Winchester to Oxford.

Today, it stretches 151 miles from Winchester to Greater Manchester.

It’s a lifeline for British freight travelling from the South Coast docks to the industrial Midlands.

But accident ‘black spots’ have cost hundreds of drivers time, money and even their lives.

And one of the worst spots is at East Ilsley.

The 1960s

East Ilsley used to have one main route, with two-way traffic passing through the High Street.

But a series of crashes sparked calls for a bypass to divert increased traffic away from the village.

Apparently this had been promised well before the Second World War.

The main issue was vehicles, particularly lorries, speeding down the “perilous” Star Hill.

Two houses were wrecked within a week, the Newbury Weekly News reported in April 1964.

Some villagers moved into their back rooms fearing a similar outcome.

Airey Neave, MP for Abingdon, called for a 20mph speed limit as an interim measure.

Lord George Lindgren later announced that work on a two-mile, two-way bypass would start the following year, costing £600,000.

It was completed in late 1966. But the problems didn’t end there.

The 1970s and 80s

In 1980, more than 6,000 people were killed and more than 75,000 were seriously injured on Britain's roads.

The following year, Abingdon MP Tom Benyon said the East Ilsley to Chilton trunk road had “a history of accidents” he found “difficult to parallel anywhere else”.

The East Ilsley section of the A34 had been opened as a dual carriageway two years earlier.

But the stretch linking the dual carriageways at East Ilsley and Chilton was still single carriageway – the last between Oxford and Newbury.

Mr Benyon described this stretch as “a twisting, narrow and awkward piece of road which involves steep gradients and some wicked side turnings”.

He said: “I cannot understand why this road ... is so dangerous and pathetically inadequate and why the Department of Transport continues to postpone work upon it.

“At present, the road is no more than an up-market cattle track.”

He claimed the accident rate on this stretch was much higher than the national average.

Under secretary of state for transport Kenneth Clarke agreed.

The most dangerous point was Gore Hill, where the road narrows to a sharp bend at the top.

‘Coroner calls for re-route of death trap Gore Hill’ ran one headline in the NWN in 1983.

Reports detailed vehicles crashing into nearby farmland – sometimes with the occupants dead inside.

“Extend the dual carriageway or put a bomb on top of Gore Hill,” remarked one copper at the inquest of an 83-year-old woman killed in a two-car crash on the hill.

The East Ilsley-Chilton scheme entered the trunk road preparation pool in 1971.

But works to convert the two-mile stretch into dual carriageway didn’t begin until 1984, costing £3.8m, which included an underpass where the Ridgeway crosses the A34.

The project wrapped up in late 1986.

Four miles of crash barriers were added on the central reservation between Ashridge Hill and Gore Hill in 1990.

This later caused backlash from pedestrians and horse riders who demanded an underpass at East Ilsley after it was discovered the barriers had been illegally blocking an ancient right of way between East Ilsley and Beedon.

The 1990s and on

Projects like the M40 motorway extension from Oxford to Birmingham, opened in 1991, meant more traffic coming up the A34.

In 1992, Newbury MP Sir Michael McNair-Wilson backed a campaign to erect screens to protect the village from noise and fumes pollution. They are still waiting.

An A34 Action Group formed in 2016 after a mother and three children were killed in an eight-car pile-up near the village. Campaigners demanded safety improvements, while a separate petition called to lower the speed limit.

The A34 had seen more than 50 accidents resulting in death or serious injury in the last five years and the closure of the entire carriageway 56 times, newburytoday reported the same year.

The issue triggered a Parliamentary debate.

Newbury MP Richard Benyon and North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse pressed for increased investment to improve safety.

And that brings us to now.

Speeding, heavy traffic, potholed road surfaces, failing to look and sudden braking still continue to cause crashes.

The slip roads at East Ilsley and Beedon are still too short, with poor visibility for drivers.

Drivers are forced to join from a standing start or accelerate dangerously, risking a collision from behind.

And where accidents cause delays on the busy trunk road, drivers pelt it along country lanes instead.

Various suggestions to improve safety have been heard, ranging adding more crawler lanes, switching freight to the rail network, better signage, reducing speed limits and making the slip roads longer.

Ms Bailey added: “I am grateful to everyone who shared their experiences with these dangerous slip roads.

“Many of these stories were harrowing, from car crashes and near-misses to residents fearing for the lives of their children.

“I will continue to engage with the Government and National Highways to ensure our local roads are safe for families.”

She has also joined Newbury MP Lee Dillon, who recently met with the Minister for Roads, along with Didcot and Wantage MP Olly Glover and North West Hampshire MP Kit Malthouse to press for better signage, improved junction design and enhanced safety measures on the A34.

The group is also engaging with local councils, road safety groups and transport authorities to push for meaningful action.

And the story goes on.