South Gloucestershire Council has opened a public consultation on plans for an “enhanced crossing point” on Brook Way, between the junction of Courtlands and Wheatfield Drive [street view].
The existing crossing point is to be improved by widening and extending the central pedestrian refuge island and installing a 75mm high, 6m long, raised table.
A pair of ‘Children going to school’ warning signs will also be installed on Brook Way as part of the plan.
The £20,000 funding for the proposed crossing was allocated by the Southern Brooks Area Forum in December 2009 following a a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who had complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way at peak hours.
Earlier in 2009, parent campaigners had collected 93 signatures in an online petition calling for the creation of a “safer crossing point across Brook Way Road in Bradley Stoke, Bristol … [to] enable pedestrians, primarily school children to cross this busy main road safely.”
Following the award of funding for an improved crossing, local politicians engaged in an unseemly squabble over which party could claim credit for the campaign’s successful outcome.
The incorporation of a raised table in the proposed scheme may prove troublesome for Bradley Stoke Town Councillors, who recently insisted that a similar scheme for a cyclist/pedestrian crossing on Baileys Court Road be flattened.
One Councillor described the Baileys Court Road proposals “an obstruction of the highway”, adding that he would object to “anything that slows the traffic below the legal speed limit”, while another said installing a raised crossing would amount to “introducing a [lower] speed limit by the back door”.
The consultation on the Brook Way proposals runs until Monday 25th October.
The Town Council’s Planning Committee failed to discuss the proposals at its September meeting and the consultation will have ended by the time it meets again on Wednesday 27th October.
Not particularly in favour of raised tables – never seen the point – it’s a road, it’s for cars, if we need to cross ‘walking down’ the 4 inches to the road level isn’t really a big deal!
However always in favour of dropped kerbs – particularly at the pedestrian crossing on the A38…they’ve put the new crossing point in and all the new kerbing – problem is the crossing itself is still at the old point and now has raised kerbs. So this morning the poor lady in the motorised wheelchair couldn’t get up! Fortunately the traffic waited and I was nice and helped her 🙂
Got to admire the planning though!
They may as well just stick another zebra crossing like they have next to the Bradley Stoke surgery. A zebra crossing along with its flashing beacons will be more noticeable in the distance; and therefore on my opinion would be a safer alternative to a raised table.
Looks like this raised table might get through as our wonderful Town Council forgot to reject it at their last meeting… he … he…. Bring it on!
As both parties seem to be squabbling over who is to blame (sorry praise) for this particular stupid idea then I doubt any of them will have the bottle to object to it.
Dave and Mike (above) are both right however, there is no need to raise the road, a proper crossing would be a lot better for all concerned.
£20,000!!
Good to see that our local council can still be profligate with tax payer’s money. What a colossal waste this scheme is and totally unjustifiable in the current financial climate when every penny to be spent should bender the tightest of scrutiny.
But then again, having reviewed the accounts for the Town Council it’s evident that prudence disappeared quicker than Gordon Brown’s reputation and the culture of waste is prevalent and apparently at all levels of local government.
As for the claims of the parents that it’s a busy main road, the mock-rage is laughable. At peak times the traffic is at a standstill anyway.
It would be good to add a few more Zebra crossings and REMOVE every speed bump from Brook Way.
I don’t even mind 30mph speed cameras, but those speed bumps are a nightmare.
Agree with Fred, Mike & Dave, A proper crossing is the only safe option. Doesn’t matter who got the most names on a bit of paper. Ensuring People who need to cross at that point, which they do, are safe should be the only focus of our Councillors.
Looks like the objections raised were totally ignored.
A three inch high speed ramp wasting £20,000 is going ahead.
Might be a waste to you, anon-e-mouse, but fortunately the world (or indeed Bradley Stoke) doesn’t revolve around you.
Some of us are all in favour of making crossing Brook Way safer for children and parents on their way to school.
I have no objection to any crossing on Brook Way, using lowered pavement ramps, with pelican controls if needed.
The use of raised speed bumps and crossings is a nuisance and does damage cars travelling over them at any speed. These ramps and bumps are not used on any other main road that I know of.
Why does South Gloucestershire Council persist in this policy for Bradley Stoke?
To the ‘Bradley Stoke Dad’ – I’d be surprised if anyone wasn’t in favour of making crossing Brook Way safer – this discussion however is about the raised table – a different issue entirely.
Surely if the raised table slows traffic speeds, bearing in mind that it’s positioned close to the roundabout so vehicles should be slowing anyway, then surely that makes the crossing safer for those of us walking our children to school?
If you don’t want your car damaged, don’t speed over a raised table on the approach to a roundabout, it’s quite simple.
I don’t accept that it is that simple.
Whilst reducing speed will reduce the damage that a raised crossing causes, it will not eliminate it.
I cannot see what advantage that a raised crossing has over a normal crossing, other than discriminating against road users. Do any other main roads have such a crossing?
As said above, I am more than happy for SGC to install a Pelican crossing for safety.