Getting cross at no crossing.
Crossing Bridgetown Hill from the bus stop at the top is “terrifying”, “scary” and an “accident waiting to happen“. Just some of the comments from regular bus users who get off at the top and have to play chicken with the traffic to get to the other side.
Earlier this week campaigners put their case to the highways bosses for a Pelican crossing. Their case is being supported by local councillors, Bridgetown Alive, the town mayor and hundreds of
residents who say they daren’t risk it, especially at rush hour. One person even said they had to put their walking frame in the road to force the traffic to stop.
an accident waiting to happen
The case for a crossing was put to the South Hams Highways and Traffic Orders Committee (HATOC) on Tuesday by Jo Redwood and Paul Church, who pointed out that more than 60 buses a day stop at the top of the hill with passengers needing to cross either to Jubilee Road or Blackpost Lane. Paul told the Pulse that the crossing lower down is a third of a mile away and for elderly people and those with buggies and shopping the trudge up the hill is too much.
One person who contacted the campaign puts it like this: “This location is, quite frankly, an accident waiting to happen. I would never allow my own child to cross here alone to catch a bus or visit grandparents.”
A zebra crossing at this spot would not only make daily life safer for local families and residents but would also prevent what feels like an inevitable serious accident in the future.
A petition was started by Jo who says “Cars coming down the hill are just coming into a 30 zone and sometimes fail to slow down, and this road is used by commuters travelling to or through Totnes, making crossing the road at the times most people need to get buses very difficult.”
But it seems like there is now growing formal support for the crossing. The HATOC meeting heard a motion from Cllr John Birch to install a Pelican crossing and then decided on a site visit and to consider it again at the February meeting.
Paul said: “It was a very positive outcome and we hope that momentum can be maintained to a successful conclusion.”