Petitioning for a pedestrian crossing - anyone done it?

glasgowdan

Firstly I'm not sure what section to put this in so it's here for now!

We regularly have to cross a busy road. It's on a blind bend and each side is largely residential but with two schools and a busy shop. During school hours there is a lollipop. Last week a boy was hit by a car on the bend. Granted, he was probably not looking, but with cars zipping round the bend at up to 40mph it can be a bit scary. The nearest crossing is about 300m away.

I'd really love to see a crossing here but have no idea where to start. I assume the council, roads dept? Town planners? Local MP?

I'd love to hear from anyone with experience of this.

Quentin

Getting the local councillor on side is a good start.

agrinnall

I doubt if a petition to site a crossing on a blind bend will be accepted, so you may need to look at a site that allows vehicles a reasonable distance to view the crossing. And in the meantime, wouldn't it be better to cross somewhere else?

suki1964

You won't get a crossing on a blind bend, hence the crossing further up

What you may get ( as we have done on our blind bend) is better signage and road markings for drivers to slow their speed

AdrianC

Any chance of a google streetview link to the location?

Assuming the visibility is as poor as suggested, then it sounds like a very stupid place...
...to be doing 40mph.
...to try to cross the road.
...to put a crossing.

Strider590

Are you talking about something like a simple zebra crossing?

Because it won't do any good, the people who are too arrogant to slow down near a school, will also be too arrogant to stop for pedestrians at a crossing.

Whatever you do, it won't affect the people who cause a problem, it'll just inconvenience everyone else.

It's like in !!!!enham Worcestershire, a bit of pretentious village full of people who like to "keep up with the Jones", the residents campaigned to get speed cameras, due to outsiders using their village as a shortcut to Redditch, a "scamera van" was put in the village for a week or so and funnily enough the only people it caught speeding were the residents.

WobblyDog

I contacted my local councillor about having a crossing of some kind installed at a hazardous location near my house, but was told that it couldn't be considered because there were no recorded injuries.


On the other hand, a pedestrian crossing was installed a couple of miles from my house after 2 separate incidents of children being killed in a period of 2 years.


So the threshold for action probably lies somewhere between those 2 cases. It's probably important to ensure that all incidents are formally recorded.

bob_a_builder

As above its very much a case of shutting the door after the horse has bolted

The OP reports a child hits by car, thats a good start ( as far as the council are concerned ) but a couple of deaths would be better

Sad but true

AdrianC

Strider590 wrote: »

It's like in !!!!enham Worcestershire...

S!!!!horpe syndrome claims another victim.

glasgowdan

This is the spot

https://goo.gl/maps/cVodjLUtxW52

AdrianC

glasgowdan wrote: »

This is the spot

https://goo.gl/maps/cVodjLUtxW52

I wouldn't exactly call that a "blind bend" - especially not since it's a 30 limit... The sightline appears to be about 100m in each direction, which is over seven seconds when travelling at the speed limit.

There doesn't even appear to be a good reason to need a crossing there, as opposed to elsewhere up or down the road. Especially given there's already a traffic-light controlled crossing only 220m away.