Highways chiefs have agreed in principle to install a zebra crossing on a busy Mapperley road, following a family’s high-profile campaign.
The crossing will now be installed on Digby Avenue – which has been described as a “racetrack” by residents with motorists driving down at “ridiculous speeds”
The road passes three schools, a park and residential complex for older people.
The campaign for the crossing was started by the Willis-Crowther family, who live on the road.
They set up a petition last year calling for a crossing on the road which went on to attract over 800 signatures. The idea for the petition came from the family’s five-year-old daughter Minnie.
The campaign was also backed by Gedling MP Tom Randall, who wrote to all residents in the street informing them of the petition and also helped collect signatures from those living on Digby Avenue and from parents at the nearby schools.
The petition was handed to Nottinghamshire County Council by Arnold North Cllr John Clarke (Lab), who told a meeting of councillors that “This road is in serious need of some traffic calming.”
The petition prompted Nottinghamshire County Council to carry out a traffic review, with a decision now being taken to include a crossing in their 2022/23 integrated transport plan for delivery.
Gedling MP Randall said he was ‘thrilled’ by the decision and visited residents earlier today to congratulate them on their campaign success.
He told Gedling Eye: “There was a strong response on the doorstep to the idea of a crossing. Many residents were concerned at the busy traffic, particularly at peak times. I am pleased the County Council has acted upon this and I hope that this crossing will help all local residents, from children going to school to walkers off to Digby Park.”
Nottinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment, Councillor Neil Clarke MBE, said: “This is yet another example of Nottinghamshire County Council listening to the priorities of our residents and taking steps to protect the safety of school children and other pedestrians.”
Ridiculous. Digby Avenue is a quiet side road.
Not so quiet on kamikaze school runs, why did they spend thousands putting barriers up making school parking even worse I’ll never know.
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They need to sort out the road surface while they are at its. It’s horrendous.
its like a swarm of locusts at drop off times, parking on zigzags , 5 point turns, blocking drives, double parking….
randall taking credit again for something which been ongoing for ages,conservative money that they not give to the fomer labour incumbent ,thats how to pull a fast one like the 600 school places that appeared once randall was elected.
I don’t see how a zebra crossing will reduce the volume of traffic on Digby or the speed of cars travelling down this road. If more parents walked with their kids to this school it would reduce a lot of the problems caused by large numbers of vehicles at school drop off times. Fewer cars, less pollution, safer environment, fitter kids and parents. All a zebra crossing will do is cause traffic to block up on either side as parents park their cars on both sides of the road beyond the crossing. Also the crossing will mainly serve those coming in cars as they park on the opposite side of the road from the school. So it supports those using cars. Those travelling on foot would not need this crossing as the school population mostly live on the Westdale Road side of the school. So it is just encouraging cars rather than the opposite.