The 30mph speed limit on a stretch of Bradley Stoke Way near the Willow Brook Centre has been extended northwards by 260m, so that it covers the approaches to a newly constructed pedestrian crossing.
A new 30mph sign (pictured) has been installed north of the crossing and a sign marking the transition from 30mph to 40mph for northbound traffic placed on the other side of the carriageway.
The new Toucan crossing, which is not yet operational, has been installed as part of a package of safety measures agreed after two young people were seriously injured whilst attempting to cross on this stretch of the road last year.
The plans were formulated after a community-led petition, supported by the Bradley Stoke Journal, was signed by 3,932 people.
Work on the new crossing started in June, several months later than originally promised. The project was delayed in part by a number of objections to the Traffic Regulation Order required to implement the new crossing.
Pedestrian guardrails have been installed along the edge of the carriageway (north of the crossing) and in the central reservation (south of the crossing), to discourage pedestrians and cyclists from crossing the busy road away from the light-controlled crossing.
Yellow bar road markings on the approach to the new 30mph sign have yet to be painted.
There is also no sign yet of the road markings needed to create a new bus lane on the northbound carriageway within the 30mph zone, although posts for the associated signage can be seen near the Savages Wood Roundabout. Once implemented, the new bus lane will reduce the number of lanes available for general traffic from two to one.
The 30mph speed limit is also due to be extended south of the roundabout so that it includes the existing Toucan crossing between Champs Sur Marne and Snowberry Close, although this too is yet to be implemented.
Photo: New Toucan crossing on Bradley Stoke Way, just north of the Willow Brook Centre.
Once again today I saw someone racing away from the existing crossing to overtake other traffic, the sooner the road is narrowed to one lane the better.
Such a shame so many children chose to ignore both crossings and climb over the barriers , its so sad and to see , can lead a horse to water
@ Phil – On Monday as I went to Tesco to shop at around 1pm four teenage girls were at the crossing as I waited. Two decided to “dart across” the crossing just as the lights changed to green. Of course I didn’t move off as I was aware of the pedestrians and am a sensible and considerate driver.
My point? You’re exactly right. It’s not just lowering the speeds for drivers/narrowing the lanes that can assist in less injury to pedestrians. Education for young people is a MUST or accidents will still happen either due to excessive speed or ignorant use of the crossing/road by pedestrians.
The two lanes go on far to long now making it even more of a racetrack…saying that the road is closed tonight and they are working on the road layout etc, but unless they physically build the road out as an island to stop cars overtaking it will always be a race track. I am saddened thy children are being stupid and not using it correctly though
The lane change outside Tesco heading towards Bradley Stoke North looks really dangerous.
Basically , if you dont know the area and are passing a bus that is travelling in the bus lane, your lane suddenly ends and you would be forced into the oncoming traffic on the other side of the road!
I suppose the only consolation is there are hardly any buses in BS