TRAFFIC-calming measures to stop deaths and injuries on a major Worcestershire road are choking trade, say business chiefs.

Councillor Fran Oborski said measures to make the A449 between Worcester and Kidderminster safer after a spate of deaths on the road over the last few years were “ridiculous” and had damaged trade in Kidderminster.

Restrictions include speed cameras, a 50mph speed limit in places and sections of single carriageway replacing dual carriageway and creating ‘pinch points’ where traffic flow is more restricted.

Statistics suggest the measures have worked from a safety point of view with 15 serious accidents and three fatal accidents between 1991 and 2000 and three serious accidents and one fatal accident between 2001 and 2010. The figures refer to the number of serious accidents and fatal accidents rather than numbers of people injured.

Coun Oborski, speaking at a meeting about improving business at County Hall, said: “Are we personally prepared to go out to burn off the white lines on the A449 and the ridiculous changes that were put in by this authority a few years ago where a perfectly decent dual carriageway has been brought down to a single track road?

“It’s made it difficult for businesses in Wyre Forest. Everything down from Hartlebury to not far north of Worcester has been reduced unnecessarily to single carriageway. The road didn’t kill anyone. It was motorists driving at inappropriate speeds for the conditions.”

She said after the meeting that Wyre Forest District Council had made £1 million available for regeneration in Kidderminster for 2012/13 but that it was not fair that businesses and others were paying the price for “other people’s careless driving”.

Coun Simon Geraghty, cabinet member for the economy on the county council, said: “There have been accidents that have resulted in people being killed or seriously injured on that road.” However, he acknowledged there was a “perception” from some businesses in Kidderminster that safety measures had made the road slower and the M5 less accessible. Coun Geraghty said concerns over the A449 would be investigated just as leaders had looked at congestion along the southern link road in Worcester.

l In March, 2001, the Highways Agency introduced a ‘calmed’ section of the A449 between Ombersley and Acton. In 2005, the 50mph speed limit imposed through to Acton was extended to include the entire length through to Hartlebury.