CHESTER MP Christine Russell claims traffic arrangements outside Chester Railway Station are a “serious accident waiting to happen”.

In a strongly-worded letter to Cheshire County Council, Mrs Russell reiterated her long-held concerns about the situation in Station Road.

She is backing members of the city council’s city area committee, who have voiced fears about the lack of pedestrian crossings outside the 150-year-old station.

In a letter to David Thomas, the county council’s area traffic engineer (Chester), Mrs Russell said: “I further understand from your response to the area committee that the revised layout was designed so this complex junction would have the minimum of road markings with no-one having right of way and the whole system dependent on a degree of ‘controlled uncertainty’.

“Whilst to date, and as far as I am aware, there have been only minor bumps and thankfully no serious road traffic accident, I’m afraid my weekly, sometimes twice weekly, observation is that there is a serious accident waiting to happen.

“Vehicles travelling from City Road turn at speed into Station Road, startling pedestrians who have stepped off the kerb to cross the road to the station.”

She added: “The organisation of the taxi queue is completely chaotic; passengers face being mown down by buses as they cross to get into a cab. There is no queuing system, it is a free-for-all and deeply unsatisfactory.

“The ‘controlled uncertainty’ may appear aesthetically pleasing but it is utterly confusing and potentially dangerous for pedestrians who may be frail, have mobility problems, have small children in tow and/or lots of luggage.”

But Mr Thomas said the decision to keep lines and signs to a minimum was based on the success of schemes elsewhere.

He added: “In particular the focus was on creating greater space for pedestrians and making the routes that they follow more self-explanatory.

“As part of the design process, schemes that had been implemented in other parts of this country and Europe were considered where complex junctions have been remodelled using very little, if any, road markings – the premise being that drivers take greater care in these locations and the accident rates have reduced.

“The system is based on no-one having right of way, forcing motorists, pedestrians and other road users to make eye contact and decide among themselves when it is safe to proceed.”

Mr Thomas said the taxi and City Rail Link bus area was operating in “an orderly manner”.