AN ANGRY resident fears a pedestrian will be killed after road chiefs rejected his calls for a lower speed limit at a busy Weymouth roundabout.

Bob Irwin, 65, is campaigning for a lower limit at Chafeys roundabout to make it safer for residents to walk from Southill to Weymouth town centre.

He said pedestrians are forced to dodge fast traffic on both Weymouth Way and Granby Way as both of the roads and the roundabout have a 50mph limit.

He said: “That roundabout is dangerous. What are we waiting for, somebody to get killed?”

Mr Irwin wants Dorset County Council’s road chiefs to reduce the speed limit to 30mph at the roundabout but he has been rebuffed so far.

He said: “I’ve had a letter from the council and I’m absolutely disgusted.

“They’ve no thought for the residents of Southill.

“This is the only route we’ve got to walk if we want to head towards town and we’ve got to cross a 50mph road.”

Mr Irwin has already presented a petition to the borough council but decided to take up his argument again when he met former South Dorset MP Jim Knight before the election.

Mr Knight contacted Miles Butler, director for the environment at Dorset County Council, who has now written to Mr Irwin via Mr Knight to tell him they will not be able to slow the traffic.

Mr Butler wrote that the council has undertaken ‘exhaustive investigations’ into Mr Irwin’s concerns.

He cited national guidance on roundabouts that states the speed limit should be the same as the majority of its approach roads.

Field Barn Drive is 30mph and Goldcroft Road is 20mph but the two sides of Weymouth Way and Granby Way are 50mph roads.

Mr Butler said the Department for Transport advises against setting a 30mph speed limit for short stretches of road as the limit would be ignored and difficult to enforce.

He added that highways engineers used a speed gun for a survey and found most drivers travelled at or just above 30mph at Chafeys roundabout.

And Mr Butler warned that too few people cross the road at the roundabout to justify a request for a puffin crossing.

A council spokesman confirmed the limit at the roundabout was the same as the three 50mph approach roads.

“In addition there have been no recent recorded collisions there,” he added.

“When we have done speed checks the average speed has been in the region of 30mph.

“Even if the limit was 30mph the police would not be able to enforce it.”