Nork resident and mother of four Eva Hellings presented a 60-page petition on behalf of the hundreds of people who risk their lives daily crossing the A217 Brighton Road, Banstead near Burgh Wood, at a Reigate & Banstead Council local committee yesterday.
The petition called for traffic lights or a bridge to be installed so that pedestrians could cross four lanes of traffic safely.
The document included 1,028 signatories and was supplemented by video evidence (understood to be a first for a committee meeting) of the perils of crossing this road. The crossing is used to access a footpath which leads directly to the Horseshoe and Banstead’s local schools, community services and the High Street. Community services in the Horseshoe include Banstead library, Citizens Advice, Age Concern, a Sure Start centre, NHS Health centre and three primary schools).
As such, the crossing is tackled by a broad spectrum of the community including, the elderly, disabled, children and parents with buggies.
The crossing is designated by dropped kerbs on one side of the dual carriage way and a strip of pavement in the central reservation. This crossing connects the Nork side of Banstead directly to the Horsehoe and its amenities.
The petition was presented at the Reigate & Banstead Council local committee meeting held at the Council Chambers in Reigate on 7 March 2016 and was strongly supported by Surrey County Council appointed members Nick Harrison (for Nork and Tattenhams), Ken Gulati (for Banstead, Woodmansterne and Chipstead) and Bob Gardner (Merstham and Banstead South). Signatories include the head teachers of Banstead Junior and Infant Schools.
Eva Hellings appealed that the crossing was needed to safely connect two parts of the same community and that the council needed to pull out all the stops to secure funding for the scheme as a matter of urgency to prevent a serious injury or fatality.
Reigate and Banstead local committee chair Dorothy Ross-Tomlin assured Mrs Hellings that she was “ pushing at an open door” and felt “very sympathetic” towards the case particularly for elderly and disabled people tackling the crossing, “knowing how very busy that road is”.
In the past, other residents who have enquired about the possibility of a new crossing have been told that there had not been enough fatalities to warrant its need. The dangers of the crossing were put into stark context by the one-minute video footage taken one afternoon last year by Mrs Hellings, which showed how crowded the central reservation can get after crossing one stretch of dual carriageway, forcing people to spill onto the road. Mrs Hellings said, “I wonder which of my four children the council would like to see dead before the Council feel a crossing is needed”.
Nick Harrsion, who was present at the meeting, said he had crossed the road himself and described the particular challenges of this crossing, especially in the light of new homes being built recently in Nork, which added to the population who would use the crossing. He said that the video footage was a very typical example of the problems of the existing crossing, particularly as some drivers in one lane stop for pedestrians, but continue to speed on in the next one causing confusion for pedestrians and drivers.
He said, “It is a very problematic junction… It [a signalised pedestrian crossing] is a high priority crossing and is included in the County and Borough plan. I hope very much this crossing can be built.”
Borough Council appointed member Dr Lynn Hack commented at the meeting that a pedestrian bridge might by more appropriate than traffic lights due to the nearby complications of the junction, which include slip roads along the A217. Due to land constraints on either side of the road and higher costs (five times that of traffic lights) a bridge was ruled out as being a viable option in previous feasibility studies carried out by the Council’s highways team.
A council highways engineer present at the committee meeting commented, “ I know it has been a longstanding issue for the community. Some funding has been put aside in the next financial year for us to look into the issue… but we cannot guarantee at this stage that it will be part of that LEP bid”.
Surrey County Council’s transport policy team can apply for funding via the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).
The highways officer continued, “We’re very sympathetic with all the councillors, [especially] for people with mobility issues who cannot get down to the other crossing… We are trying… but it’s subject to the funding, I’m afraid”.
The Council’s written response to Mrs Hellings stated: “Funding has been secured from developer contributions collected in the area for feasibility design for a signalised crossing on the A217 Brighton Road in the vicinity of Burgh Wood to be carried out in the financial year 2016/17. It should be noted that no funding has been allocated for the implementation of a signalised crossing at this location, the cost of which is likely to be in the region of £150,000.
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