Make school journey safer
Pegswood residents and parents Farrah Smith (left) and Deborah Moore raise a petition against poor road safety issues in Pegswood.
PARENTS are calling for new measures to make the school journey safer for their children.
A petition has been set up to ask the county council to employ a school crossing patrol at Pegswood First School on Longhirst Road.
Other suggestions include a zebra crossing and a speed-indicator sign to help slow down traffic.
The campaign was started by Langwell Terrace resident Deborah Moore, whose son Benjamin is in the reception class at the school.
“The area gets very congested, particularly at picking up time, and although there is a designated crossing point the traffic doesn’t have to stop and sometimes we have to wait about ten minutes before crossing the road,” she said. “We really need something to help the situation and hopefully the county council will give us a lollipop person or a zebra crossing so we can safely get across.
“I don’t want it to get to the point where a child’s life is put at risk until something happens — someone from the highways department needs to come and see the situation for themselves.
“It would also help if the traffic was slowed down a bit. There are chicanes in place, but I think a flashing sign like the one in Hebron would be very effective.
“Many parents have signed the petition and we’ve also received backing from a number of local businesses.
“The school has done a lot of good work on road safety education with the children and we’ve approached the parish council for support. If everyone can work together on this, hopefully we will be able to get something put in place.”
Parish and county councillor David Woodard said that he would hand in the petition at a future meeting of the unitary authority’s North Area Committee.
He added: “This will spark an examination of the traffic situation along Longhirst Road and by taking it to the committee, the parents will get a response from the highways department.”
A Northumberland County Council spokeswoman said: “We have criteria for looking at sites for school crossing patrols and these criteria will be applied to any request we receive.”
For more information, email deborah.moore12@btinternet.com
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Thursday 23 May 2013
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