'Why won't you give us a zebra crossing?' Penwortham primary school childrens' disappointment at LCC
Highways bosses have refused childrens’ pleas for a zebra crossing, despite ‘a number of near-misses’ on the road outside their school.
Pupils at Cop Lane Primary School in Penwortham launched a campaign for a crossing after witnessing several close-calls on Cop Lane - one of the area’s busiest roads - which links to the A582 and A59.
They say that the road is becoming increasingly busy, and while there is a crossing patrol, he is only there from 8.30-9am and 3.15-3.45pm. The school feel it is “only a matter of time before someone gets hurt”, especially as the school runs after-hours clubs and the evenings draw in.
MP Paul Foster visited school and supported the idea after speaking to the children and hearing their concerns. He raised it with highways bosses at Lancashire County Council (LCC), but they rejected the idea.
The school’s council has now released a handwritten letter, addressed to the head of Highways, asking him to reconsider and meet in person.
It says: “Considering your response to our previous letter, we would like to say we are very dissapointed with your decision. We are upset with your decision, because we are concerned about the safety of our pupils and staff.
“In the past, multiple students have been nearly run over. Does it take a child to get seriously hurt before you look at it properly? We are writing to urge you to reconsider your decision.”
What does Lancashire County Council say?
A Lancashire County Council spokesman said: "We receive a significant number of requests for road safety measures countywide, especially around schools and while we carefully consider a number of factors in assessing road safety improvement requests, we prioritise our resource towards those sites where injuries and collisions occur on a regular basis"
"Due to the good safety record at this location and the existing road safety measures including school warning signs and road markings, we are unable to prioritise installing a pedestrian crossing at this time."
The headteacher
Headteacher, Ian Ashmore said: "Our school council feels very strongly about this issue and was disappointed by the response from Lancashire County Council’s Highways team. They remain committed to raising the profile of their campaign and will continue to fight for a zebra crossing to ensure the safety of our school community."