‘Pavement of terror’ – raised kerb in Salisbury criticised

Marshall Murray, 83, damaged his Hyundai i30 on the raised kerb at the corner of South Western Road and Fisherton Street, beneath the railway bridge.

He had taken his wife Cecilia to the railway station to collect a train ticket and was driving home when the incident took place on Monday, November 25.

The kerb was recently reworked under the £3.5 million Fisherton Gateway scheme.

The council says a “similar style of kerb” was previously in place to protect the footpath, it has been installed correctly and there are features to guide motorists away from the pavement.

Mr Murray took his car to Avery Accident Repair Specialists on Thursday and says he was quoted between £4,000 and £5,000 to repair the damage.

The raised kerb which has several drivers have scraped their cars on (Image: Newsquest) But the vehicle is only worth around £3,500, meaning the collision has effectively made it “worthless”.

Garage owner Mark Avery has seen 10 or 11 cases involving the ‘reshaped’ kerb in the last month, but says there has been a ‘steady stream’ of incidents there over his 36 years in the job.

Mr Murray believes the junction is made “awkward” by the high kerb and the volume of traffic, including large vehicles heading to Churchfields Industrial Estate.

“You’re watching the traffic and the lorries, and what you’re not watching is the thing about two feet high sticking out of the pavement,” he said.

How the kerb looked in June 2024 (Image: Google Street View) “I was coming out of the station, down to join Fisherton Street to turn under the bridge. My wife said, ‘you’re a bit close to the kerb’ – but I couldn’t see it!

“Effectively, it’s written my car off. I went to the insurance company, and they said, ‘we’ll write that off’.”

Mr Murray says his car is still drivable, but he has to live with the damage because of the repair cost (Image: Newsquest) He added: “It’s perfectly drivable but instantly made completely worthless. I’ve just got to live with it.

“The junction is really quite awkward. My wife is afraid to go there. If you had an SUV, you wouldn’t be able to see the kerb at all.

“If you were planning Salisbury, you wouldn’t put that industrial estate where it is.”

Dear @wiltscouncil @NationalHways @SalisburyCC @journalupdate I have just seen 2 cars wreck their left hand side on the high corner turning left coming down from #Salisbury station & left under bridge. The design is wrong. It needs a warning b4 an accident .

— Theresa Wood (@Theresa4Talent) November 26, 2024

On Monday, Theresa Wood, who lives in Salisbury, claimed she saw two drivers “wreck” the left-hand side of their cars on the “high corner”.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), she said: “The design is wrong. It needs a warning before an accident. This curb is dangerous and is damaging cars.”

Cllr Nick Holder, Wiltshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “The recent improvements to Fisherton Street and South Western Road are designed to enhance the pedestrian experience and access. 

“The kerb at junction of Fisherton Street and South Western Road is a Trief kerb which is intended to stop vehicles mounting the footpath as they travel under Fisherton Railway Bridge.

“The type of kerb used at this location is approved for use within the public highways, has been installed correctly and is the same combination of features that was used previously to protect the footpath at this location.

“A similar style of kerb was previously used to protect the footpath at this location.

“There is a kerbed block paved area and double yellow lines present to help guide motorists away from the Trief and around the corner and under the railway bridge.

“The same combination of features was used to keep motorists away from the raised kerb and guide them around the corner prior to the recently completed works at this location.

“Any infrastructure scheme such as this requires a series of independent safety audits.

“Should the post construction safety audit of this scheme make any recommendations, these will be considered and addressed accordingly."