Pedestrian traffic islands still not replaced after Leigh gas works (From Echo)
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Pedestrian traffic islands still not replaced after Leigh gas works
6:00am Tuesday 9th March 2010 in
A WOMAN has called on Southend Council to improve safety for pedestrians after traffic islands on the A13 in Leigh were removed during roadworks.
Valerie George, of Braemar Crescent, Leigh, wants the council to ensure the islands, which were on the London Road, near Thames Drive, are replaced immediately.
She would also like to see a pedestrian crossing installed, allowing people to cross the road more easily.
The islands were taken out in October to allow National Grid to replace gas mains, with the proviso they were replaced once work finished.
However, they have not yet been replaced.
Mrs George, who is in her sixties, said: “There is no sign of them being reinstalled. You either have to walk down to cross the road at Thames Drive, or take your life in your hands and cross further up.”
Mrs George believes the lack of any central refuge in the busy road is putting pedestrians at risk, and would ideally like to see a proper crossing installed in the area.
She said: “For people with shopping or young mums with children it’s quite dangerous. A zebra crossing would be nice, but whether or not it would be possible I don’t know.”
The busy stretch between Hadleigh and Leigh has suffered congestion over recent months due to the gas works and roadworks at the Thames Drive junction.
Mrs George added: “If the council says a crossing would slow traffic down, it couldn’t be any worse than it already is. It just crawls.”
Mehmet Mazhar, Southend Council’s interim group manager for traffic and highways, said it was hoped the islands would be replaced soon, as the work had already been commissioned by National Grid.
He said: “We regret any inconvenience caused to our local community and will ensure the outstanding works are completed as soon as possible.
“The programme is now complete at these locations and we are liaising with the gas company to have the islands replaced as a matter of urgency.”
Mr Mazhar said assessment work would need to be done to determine whether a crossing would be suitable.
If this proved to be the case, he added, the scheme would have to be approved by the council before it could begin to compete for funding.
Comments(5)
ouzy
says...
10:05am Tue 9 Mar 10
Fix it now! it is a hazard to folk crossing and all they want is what was there in the first place. Forget the zebra or pelican crossing idea though as it is a pipe dream. Just replace the traffic islands. How hard can that be...?
imco
says...
9:37pm Wed 10 Mar 10
perini wrote:You're being unfair. This is another piece of dreadful road / planning work, and well said to Mrs. George for highlighting it. The traffic tends to crawl in one direction at a time, depending on the time of day. Whilst waiting for a gap each way, as dictated by the traffic lights you describe, a pedestrian would have to stand in the middle of a very busy 4 lane A-road. Westbound drivers often drive across the middle of the road lines, too, as they approach the Esso petrol station.
Mrs George added: “If the council says a crossing would slow traffic down, it couldn’t be any worse than it already is. It just crawls.” So why is it so dangerous to cross the road with all this crawling traffic??? The lights in Hadleigh and at Thames Drive control the flow so just wait for a gap. Methinks a bit of attention seeking is going on here as story riddled with contradictions.
perini
says...
12:40am Thu 11 Mar 10
imco wrote:Walked the whole length of it today - loads of opportunities to cross -had to wait a few minutes to cross on occasions but so what??
perini wrote: Mrs George added: “If the council says a crossing would slow traffic down, it couldn’t be any worse than it already is. It just crawls.” So why is it so dangerous to cross the road with all this crawling traffic??? The lights in Hadleigh and at Thames Drive control the flow so just wait for a gap. Methinks a bit of attention seeking is going on here as story riddled with contradictions.You're being unfair. This is another piece of dreadful road / planning work, and well said to Mrs. George for highlighting it. The traffic tends to crawl in one direction at a time, depending on the time of day. Whilst waiting for a gap each way, as dictated by the traffic lights you describe, a pedestrian would have to stand in the middle of a very busy 4 lane A-road. Westbound drivers often drive across the middle of the road lines, too, as they approach the Esso petrol station.
Ivanna Goodhump
says...
1:14pm Mon 22 Mar 10
ouzy wrote:Why should there be traffic islands just in case a couple of old biddy's want to cross the road at that particular point.
I have a friend who lives in leigh heath court (in the background of the pic) and crossing the road there at the moment is a bloody mare. It was never nice to cross even when you had the traffic islands there before. But they seem to have erplaces them a little bit further up the road near the sayy army field. So why on eath didnt they just do all of them instead of just 2...? Fix it now! it is a hazard to folk crossing and all they want is what was there in the first place. Forget the zebra or pelican crossing idea though as it is a pipe dream. Just replace the traffic islands. How hard can that be...?
Let them walk back to Thames Drive lights or up to the Sally Army fields and cross there - the exercise will do them good - it's hardly a route march after all.
The same stupidity has taken place on the Seafront - traffic islands every 100yds in some places rather than make people walk a little bit further.
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Valerie George – wants traffic islands returned
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perini says...
9:35am Tue 9 Mar 10
So why is it so dangerous to cross the road with all this crawling traffic??? The lights in Hadleigh and at Thames Drive control the flow so just wait for a gap. Methinks a bit of attention seeking is going on here as story riddled with contradictions.