The quick thinking of a councillor has prevented potential carnage at a busy Fife junction.
A new sign was erected in Cowdenbeath’s High Street, wrongly directing motorists from two lanes into one across a junction.
It says vehicles in both lanes can go straight ahead, when those in the right lane should only turn.
Locals have since taken to social media to warn each other of the potential danger of collision with some already reporting several near misses.
Danger
However Cowdenbeath councillor Darren Watt has averted potential disaster after he climbed up the lamp post and covered the offending sign with a bin bag on Thursday.
Contactors working on behalf of Fife Council’s transportation department have been blamed for the gaffe.
Mr Watt said he was alerted to the potential risk and felt compelled to act.
Bin bag used to cover sign
“It’s an extremely busy junction and the new sign wrongly directs those in the right hand lane that they can also carry on through the junction,” he said.
“That directs them into traffic from the left and an almost certain accident from the those coming from the left.
“I was made aware of the potential dangers by a local resident on Thursday.
“Therefore I immediately flagged it up with my colleagues at Fife Council and was pleased that it was quickly acknowledged.”
Confusion
He added: “In addition I’ve been along to the junction myself today and covered the offending sign up before anyone gets hurt.
❗Update
Granted, it's not the neatest of jobs but it'll do until Fife Council come out to deal with it properly. 🙂👍 https://t.co/2l7fVfc9r8 pic.twitter.com/wiNqMb8etO
— Cllr Darren Watt – Cowdenbeath 🏴🇬🇧 (@CllrDarrenWatt) August 19, 2021
“The particular road layout and traffic lights can cause confusion for some motorists at the best of times.
“We certainly don’t need an inaccurate sign adding to that.”
Wrong sign erected
Commenting on the latest gaffe, Fife Council’s Mark Barrett, lead officer of transportation development management for south Fife, said: “Unfortunately the wrong sign has been put up by the developer.
“We’ve been in touch with the developer to ask them to take the sign down as a matter of urgency and put the correct one up.”