ROAD safety concerns in the area surrounding a new £14.8m visitor centre on Hadrian’s Wall have still not been addressed, councillors and local residents have claimed.

The Sill is expected to attract 100,000 visitors per year when it opens at Once Brewed near Bardon Mill, in August 2017.

Over the past three years, members of Henshaw Parish Council have repeatedly called for the road infrastructure in the area to be updated to accommodate additional traffic.

Chief among their concerns is the staggered crossroads on the Military Road next to the site, and slowing down speeding motorists along the B6318.

Northumberland County Council responded last year by introducing a new 40mph speed limit along a half mile stretch of the road, near to the new attraction, which will be called the National Landscape Discovery Centre.

But at a packed public meeting at Bardon Mill Village Hall last Wednesday, councillors and other residents said more action needed to be taken.

The county council’s highways manager Kris Westerby faced questions from the public, alongside representatives of scheme leaders, the Northumberland National Park Authority.

Local county councillor Alan Sharp said the location of new 40mph signs on the road needed to be reviewed, because motorists are not given enough notice of the speed reduction from the previous 60mph limit.

He said: “We want those signs put back to East Once Brewed. The only way to control traffic along that area is to do that.

“They are still travelling at speeds of up to 60mph and even 70mph, and a lot of motorists are really disregarding the new speed restriction.”

Residents said that the crossroads on the B6318 next to the Sill site is not designed for a high volume of traffic, especially if motorists are not being encouraged to slow down.

One member of the public called for it to be widened, and to make the junctions “less tight to navigate.”

Calls were also made for roads surrounding the Sill to be taken off the route used by lorries transporting timber.

Coun. Sharp claimed that the current timber route was agreed by the local authority, without consultation with parish councils or himself as the ward county councillor for Haydon and Hadrian.

He added: “The road from Once Brewed to the A69 at Bardon Mill is not fit for timber wagons.

“They cause pot holes, deterioration of gulleys, and then the required maintenance does not get done.”

Mr Westerby said the 40mph signs along the B6318 road would be enhanced by a yellow background, to make them stand out more, as well as other restrictive measures, such as speed camera signs.

In addition, he said that the police were planning to carry out speed surveys along that stretch of road.

Mr Westerby said the timber industry was a big player in terms of the local economy.

However, he acknowledged the comments raised and said he would inquire as to whether it would be possible for any changes to be made.

Mr Westerby said: “Scottish lorries, for example, use the road. There’s a meeting planned to take place next month to discuss alternative routes into Egger UK at Hexham, from the North.”

Greenhead resident Wendy Bond said some timber lorries breached local speed limits elsewhere, including the 30mph limit at Greenhead Bank.

joseph.tulip@hexham-courant.co.uk