Sewardstone Road residents blast Essex Highways over speeding

The notorious thoroughfare from Chingford to Waltham Abbey has been a host to numerous crash in the last few years, with residents reporting speeding drivers racing down the road, day and night.

According to those living on Albion Terrace, a small section of the road near Gilwill Hill, residents live in fear, with some families reportedly fleeing the street out of concern for their children’s safety.

Journalist Jennifer Hassan, 31, said: “People have been run over, cars have ended up in our front gardens and nearly all of us have had a car written off or damaged.

“I don’t want to have kids in this in this house, I would be terrified”.

Ms Hassan also explained that speeding cars often lose control as they approach Albion Terrace due to a sudden, sharp bend in the road.

She believes this has caused cars to crash into road signs, cars, and even occasionally houses, or flip into ditches besides the road.

Despite several serious accidents occurring here, no official measures have been implemented to reduce drivers’ speed.

One car accident victim Caroline Wyatt, 50, had her back broken when a speeding vehicle ploughed into her in 2014, while she was visiting relatives in Albion Terrace.

The scene of the accident that left Ms Wyatt with broken back.

While she has now recovered from her injuries, Ms Wyatt admitted to still being wary of the road.

She said: “I still suffer from the accident; the other day, I had a panic attack when I had to cross the road.”

“It is a horrible road, I hate it”.

Statistics from MyCrash revealed that in the six years since Ms Wyatt’s accident, there have been 25 reported car accidents on Sewardstone Road between McDonald’s Chingford and Picks Cottage Fishing Lakes, just beyond Albion Terrace.

Seven of these were directly on Albion Terrace.

Residents, however, warned these statistics must be understood with caution, as not all the accidents are reported.

Ms Hassan said: “We see people all the time hit things or narrowly miss people.

"One car crashed into a ditch, and simply rolled his car back over and drove off!”

The only speed reducing measure in place was a 30 miles per hour sign, erected on the entrance to Albion Terrace from the direction of Waltham Abbey.

This sign, however, now lies in a hedge on the side of the road after it too became a victim of the dangerous driving known to the area.

Albion Terrace. Photo: Google Maps

Ms Hassan has been proactive in raising the issue with Essex County Council since she moved onto the road in 2018.

An official from Essex Highways recently informed her via email that no vertical traffic calming measures, such as speed humps, could be implemented.

The email explained, as the road is connected to the M25, it is classified as a “priority one county route”, meaning free flowing traffic needs to be maintained on it.

“It seems to me that they're prioritising the free flow of traffic over the lives of residents," said Ms Hassan.

“Why is it that the Chingford side, which is literally a minute walk down the road, has just installed speed humps, if it is a priority road?”

Mother-of-one Deniz Osman was similarly appalled by the council’s response.

The 41-year-old said: “I know they won’t do speed humps, but they need to do something.

“I don’t understand why they can’t put a speed camera here, there has been so many accidents”.

The Essex Highways official also suggested residents joined the “Community Speed Watch” scheme, a national initiative where local communities, with the support of police, monitor vehicles using speed detection devices.

Albion Terrace residents, however, rejected this idea as many are already balancing job and caring responsibilities.

Ms Osman said: “Why should it be put on us to make sure people are sticking to the law?

“What do we pay our council and road taxes for if it is not to keep us safe?”

Essex County Council, however, have argued that they have actively improved the safety of Sewardstone road, through a scheme implemented in March 2020.

The scheme involved road safety engineers examining the road from Dowding Way, Waltham Abbey to Baden Drive, Gilwell Hill.

An Essex Highways spokesperson said: “The scheme has improved the signs and lines [on the road] including speed limits, particularly at bends and junctions.

“If residents are still concerned about apparent traffic speeds here then they should please contact their local Essex County Councillor who can ask the Panel to make further investigations.”

Ms Hassan, however, said that she has been in talks with her local councillor, Ricki Gadsby for over two years and has not seen any progress being made in that time.

Ms Gadsby has been contacted for further comment.

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