Campaign for 'much needed' High Street pedestrian crossing has been revived

Calls for a crossing were originally made following the tragic death of a local man in October 2014, who died trying to cross the road by St Egwins’ Club.

Evesham Town councillors Jo Sandalls and Robert Raphael have been fighting the campaign, along with residents, ever since and have told the Evesham Journal that they are still pushing for a pelican crossing to be installed there.

The request for a safe crossing point was initially submitted in November 2015 to Worcestershire County Council but Cllr Sandalls said their campaign was unsuccessful at the time, as the authority said there were no funds available for this project.

In 2016, Cllr Sandalls then urged fellow councillors to back the campaign urging New Homes Bonus (NHB) money to be spent on the scheme.

Cllr Sandalls went on to gain support from four town headteachers, as their students use this route to and from their schools that include Prince Henrys High School, St Egwins Middle School, St Marys Primary and Swan Lane First School.

A petition from local residents, including elderly residents from Homesmith House, was also launched with a plea for a crossing to be installed.

Cllr Sandalls said this week that they would continue to campaign, until it was installed.

"We want to assure residents that this application is still very much in hand, and we will keep pressing for a crossing to be installed," Cllr Sandalls said.

"The issue has not gone away."

Cllr Raphael said: "In October 2014 a veteran was killed crossing the road and there have been several other minor accidents involving people and damage to vehicles caused by pedestrians attempting to cross the road in this busy part of High Street.

"Cllr Jo Sandalls and I have pressed to ring-fence £50,000 of NHB funds towards the installation of a zebra or pelican crossing.

"This has been through the due process of consultation and has been well supported by the general public.

"Worcestershire County Council, the highways authority has agreed, in principal that a crossing is necessary at some point along this stretch of road.

"Evesham Town Council, as NHB consultees, and Worcestershire County Council, as highways authority, are now awaiting the results of the traffic survey, which has completed its data collection and is now test modelling various proposals for traffic in Evesham."

Councillor Ken Pollock, cabinet member with responsibility for economy and infrastructure, said: "We have assessed the need for a pedestrian crossing somewhere along High Street in Evesham and found that one could be warranted.

"However, due to the number of side roads and other access points, in combination with on-street parking, it will make finding a suitable location for such a crossing difficult, if not impossible.

"As part of the Worcestershire Local Transport Plan 4, we are looking into the parking strategy in Evesham and it is our intention to launch this important piece of work soon. This could include a change to the provision on High Street, which in turn could free up some space that might make a crossing feasible."