Whiteshill will become safer?

I read this article in The Citizen recently:

CROSSING WILL BECOME SAFER 30 October 2007 - Councillors have successfully campaigned for improved safety measures for the school crossing at Whiteshill. Conservative parliamentary spokesman Neil Carmichael said he had been inundated with appeal as traffic levels mounted in the village following the closure of the A46 due to flood subsidence. "I resolved to ensure that speed warning signs were added and existing signage improved," he said. Mr Carmichael said that with the help of Coun Stan Waddington, Gloucestershire County Council cabinet member for the environment and transport, and Coun Len Tomlins, new road markings were planned.

Photo: Bus nearing school - will try and get photo soon of new road paint - the photo I took in the week is too blurred to make much sense

I have to say I read it with some surprise as the Parish Council have been working very hard over a very longtime to get matters improved outside Whiteshill School - plus huge efforts to reduce the impact of the A46 closure is having on the village - so has the school - and in the last 18 months I've also had some 5 meetings with Highways Officers to try and look at ways of traffic calming in that area plus loads of phone calls and emails plus the Parish meetings and their consultation coffee morning - at none of those have I seen any of these three folk mentioned below - when two of them did come to view the area one morning very recently (a couple of months after A46 closure) they didn't speak to the Parish - unlike the MP who arranged to meet Parish councillors.

It is however great to have their support - we all want improved measures here - the irony of all this is that the road paint outside the school is in my view a mess - ugly - and I can't see it doing anything to reduce dangers - indeed there is so much random paint going on - red boxes, paler boxes, yellow lines and zigzags - that I wonder if drivers will be looking more at the road than at poss children falling into the road. It is certainly not what I would have pushed for - and from comments I've received some other residents are also not happy - it also goes against the principles of Shared Spaces (see previous blogs on this topic). A great pity.

Meeting planned

Anyhow don't forget the Parish are having another coffee and traffic discussion/drop-in at 3pm on Sat 24th Nov at the Village Hall - a chance to raise these issues and hopefully find some solutions.