Safety fears have compelled a Carlisle resident to submit a petition to the county council, calling for a pedestrian crossing on Kingstown Road.
Cumbria County Council’s Local Committee heard a speech from resident Catherine Quinlan at a meeting on Thursday.
She called for increased road traffic measures on the stretch of road after witnessing concerning near misses where children have almost been run over by a car.
She said: “I am here today to ask the council to provide a safe pedestrian crossing across Kingstown Road between the Moorville Road end, outside Gosling Bridge Pub, and Bannatyne’s Gym in Carlisle.
“Preferably this would be a button press pedestrian crossing at the new traffic lights at the Windsor Way Junction.
“The current traffic islands next to the Gosling Bridge and Bannatyne’s Gym are not adequate for the volume of traffic now on Kingstown Road and the volume of pedestrians especially during peak school run times.”
Ms Quinlan told councillors that the route was used by many families heading to and from Kingmoor School but traffic islands are not big enough to accommodate the number of people using it.
She said: “I have witnessed two incidents where a child has not stopped when reaching the traffic island and has had to be pulled out of the way of a car.”
Ms Quinlan’s petition has received 350 signatures from residents of the area.
Ward councillor and member of the committee Gareth Ellis said: “It would actually be useful to incorporate it into the existing set of lights further up. At Lowry Hill, there’s a set of lights with a not dissimilar situation but a lot busier. About 10 yards up from the set of lights there’s a pedestrian crossing.”
Cllr Ellis said that traffic management is becoming an issue during a period of exponential housing growth in the city.
He said: “It’s trying to balance out the traffic, we’re close to the maximum number of houses now north of Carlisle.
“The traffic is only going to increase, there will be a continuous stream of children using that particular route.”
Ms Quinlan has contacted the Police and Crime Commissioner’s office about the issue and it will be discussed it at the next multi-agency Casualty Reduction and Safer Highways group meeting.
