An accident hot spot is being made safer because of growing fears that pedestrians are forced to “take their own lives in their hands”.Work to improve the “very dangerous corner” outside St Mark’s Church on South Road, Smith’s, is underway to prevent someone being injured or even killed.It is hoped that adding a sidewalk to that stretch of the road will help “the public feel safer” as it is a popular walking and running route to Spittal Pond.The church has “lost count of how many times” it has had its wall knocked down with congregation members fearing “a serious accident is just waiting to happen”.Father Peter Green of St Mark’s Church said he’s pleased improvements are being made before “someone is squashed between a vehicle and the church wall”.He said: “This isn’t for the church or for the congregation, this is for the general public as everyone uses South Road.“It’s a very dangerous corner with poor visibility and something really needed to be done.“Public safety is our main concern as lots of people walk along the road to get to and from Spittal Pond.”The new 4ft wide sidewalk will run along South Road from Pokiok Road to McGall’s Bay Road. Mount Hope Road, which leads to the church’s car park and parish hall, will have ramp access and will also be widened to meet the minimum requirements for the access of emergency vehicles.Work started at the end of April and the road improvements are expected to take about four months, with traffic lights being used to control the traffic when needed.The plans were discussed at the church’s annual general meeting last year and approved by the St Mark’s congregation and the Anglican Diocese.The church’s wall will also be pushed back up to 4ft, depending on the location of graves. It is hoped the new angle of the wall will improve visibility for drivers.No graves will be disturbed in the work. St Mark’s is well known for its elevated graves and it is also where former US Consul General Charles Maxwell Allan is buried.Adam Goodwin, a 22-year-old former Saltus student, lost his life in a road traffic accident near St Mark’s Church in October last year. The single bike crash happened on South Road, near the junction with St Mark’s Road.Father Green, who has been at the church for two years, said they had handed over the land to Government for the work to be carried out.He said: “I’ve lost count of how many times the church wall has been knocked down.“It’s happened time and time again. We’ve had to keep repairing the wall at a fairly steady rate.“When two vehicles are heading along the road in opposite directions there’s often accidents on the corner. It’s particularly bad when large vehicles like buses or lorries are trying to pass one another.“If someone is walking down that stretch of the road, they take their life in their hands, they are in danger of being squashed between a vehicle and the church wall.”Father Green hopes the new sidewalk will also increase people’s safety as members of the community congregate alongside the wall to watch funerals.He said the road improvements had been in the pipeline for “quite some time”.There were no objections and the Planning application was approved in mid-October last year.Government planner Corey Hill recommended the approval of the plan, writing: “There is a need to widening this area of South Road to provide for the public a safe means of walking along this particular area. In addition, the ramp to the graveyard will make access safer during funeral ceremonies.”A Public Works spokesman said: “The construction of a new sidewalk opposite St. Mark’s Church on South Road, Smiths, is being carried out to enable pedestrians to use this stretch of road more safely. This section of road contains blind bends and as the walls are often scraped or damaged by passing vehicles, it seems only a matter of time before there is a serious collision between a vehicle and a pedestrian.“The planned work entails building walls and placing curbs in order to form the sidewalk. Care must of course be exercised to ensure that no damage is done to any of the graves.’