The long awaited safety scheme outside Ludlow Primary School will go ahead before the summer. Installation of a raised table outside the school comes after a campaign by school governors and local Shropshire Councillor Tracey Huffer.
We don’t have a date for the work yet but it is expected to begin immediately after Cadent, the gas infrastructure provider, vacates the site around Easter. That means the safety scheme, which includes new signage and the raised table, will be in place before the summer.
We need other school safety schemes on Old Street and Bromfield Road.
Tracey Huffer, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow East takes up the story:
“It has taken us a few years to get to this point. Plans have needed to be revised to ensure they are just right and the money needed to be found in an overstretched highways budget.
“We need this road safety scheme. Traffic speeds along Sandpits Road at times are too high. Although there will not be a formal 20mph limit, the safety scheme will ensure that most drivers will drive at low speeds.
“The plan was to complete the work around about now but gas and water engineering works are well behind schedule. The contractors had drilled test holes in the area when planning the work but somehow missed the tilestone layers that underly East Hamlet. These are a hard as slate and have broken drill bits.
“It is likely to be a couple of months before the utility roadworks on Sandpits Road are completed. Only then can the road safety scheme be put in place.”
Andy Boddington adds:
“It is good news the Sandpits scheme is going ahead. We also need a crossing on Old Street for children and parents attending St Laurence’s primary school. This has been talked about for years but there has been no progress. Ludlow Town Council wants a light controlled crossing. Given the high visibility of the crossing point, I think a zebra crossing would work well and will be easier to find money for.
“The other problem we have is on the Bromfield Road from Ludlow School to the petrol filling station. The speed bumps doing work well and a lot of vehicles take them in their stride. This is a stretch where traffic speed would be better controlled with a series of raised tables. But that must be a long term plan as there are so many competing demands on a much reduced limited highways budget.”
A raised table on Lower Galdeford would also reduce traffic speed and be a welcome safety measure for the children who access St Lawrence’s Primary School via that route. Some cars hurtle down the hill at speed and don’t stop (or even see) the pedestrian crossing.
That’s a good idea. I’ve nearly been run over there myself on a couple of occasions. I always give the miscreants a friendly wave 🙂
And me too Andy. Several times I have pulled back from crossing to avoid being run over. Many children and parents access the school via Friar’s Walk and use the crossing. Traffic goes much too fast coming down that hill even though it’s within site of the police station!