Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) expressed their delight after a new pedestrian crossing was put in place on Ashdon Road in Saffron Walden.
Saffron Walden Town Council leader, R4U Cllr Paul Gadd said the move comes after five years of campaigning.
Cllr Gadd said: “The safety of children walking to school along the busy Ashdon Road has long been a concern. The roads in that area have a constant flow of traffic at peak times of the day, and school children have to cross by picking their way through cars and in-between HGVs. We are delighted with the new zebra crossing on Ashdon Road, as will be parents who live in the east of the town.”
He added: “In truth, it has been a hard fought campaign to get Essex Highways to install the new crossing, despite the fact that the money to pay for it had already been collected from developers. As far back as 2015 we audited the town for smaller highways improvements. Residents helped us identify and prioritise over 70 of them, which included crossings on Ashdon Road. The key priorities were then sent for implementation to Essex County Council, the highways authority.
“Now, after five years of campaigning by the R4U-led Saffron Walden Town Council, we are finally starting to see ECC taking action. They have also recently installed a crossing by the Leisure Centre, as well as the pedestrian build-out to allow safer crossing of East St. We will continue to push ECC to improve pedestrian safety in Saffron Walden.”
Conservative Essex County Councillor John Moran said the zebra crossing and the footpath improvements are the result of a collaborative process which started at the Local Highways Panel in 2018.
He said: “The main drivers behind this process were myself as the county councillor, Howard Rolfe, then leader of the Uttlesford District Council, and Saffron Walden Town Council collectively.
“Town Council officers Chloe Fiddy and Lisa Courtney and Essex Highways officer Rissa Long assisted greatly in bringing this project to fruition.
“The good news for local tax payers is that this zebra crossing and the footpath improvements were paid for by developer contributions.”
Cllr Moran added that without his support and persistence the improvements would have been further delayed or not completed at all.
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