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People power gets results
NEWMARKET JOURNAL JAN 2011. MICK SMITH CELEBRATES WITH COUNTY COUCILLOR LISA CHAMBERS AND LOCAL RESIDENTS HAPPY AT THE START OF THE WORK ON THE CROSSING ON EXNING ROAD.
CAMPAIGNERS in Newmarket were celebrating this week as work finally began on a new pedestrian crossing and plans for another were brought forward.
Preparatory work for a new crossing in Exning Road, which includes dropping the kerbs and resurfacing the road, started on Monday following a year-long campaign backed by the Journal and spearheaded by local residents Mick Smith and Ian Bedford.
It was also revealed this week that plans for a new crossing outside Houldsworth Valley Primary School had been prioritised in the wake of a road accident on January 17 which left a five-year-old pupil with a broken pelvis.
Mr Smith, of Freshfields, launched the Exning Road campaign after witnessing a near-miss on the busy road.
“We are excited but aware that it’s going to take a little while,” he told the Journal this week.
“It has taken just over a year and some people have campaigned for a lot longer. We feel very lucky.”
Campaign supporter Cllr Lisa Chambers, of Suffolk County Council, said she expected work to install the zebra crossing with Belisha beacons, to be completed in March.
“I’m really pleased to be able to work with the group and that it has come to a positive conclusion,” she said.
“It has taken us quite a while, with contamination issues in the road and other difficulties we have faced, but we have got there and can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Meanwhile, Sharon FitzGerald, headteacher at Houldsworth Valley Primary School, revealed a new crossing would be built in Rowley Drive, near the Black Bear Lane turn-off, this summer.
She said: “There was always a pedestrian crossing planned but the council has brought it forward as a result of recent events.
“The crossing will make a massive difference but we are also looking at various other traffic calming measures in the short term.”
Mrs FitzGerald said a petition recently launched by parents Gina Williams and Kaylee Brown “helped speed things up”.
Their petition calling for better signage and speed bumps along Rowley Drive has already been signed by 100 people.
A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said: “In light of the recent incident, officers met with the headteacher at Houldsworth Valley Primary School and police and have confirmed that a crossing already planned to be built at this junction during 2012/13 will be brought forward and made a priority.
“The plan now is to have the crossing designed and put in place during the summer holidays.”
Mrs FitzGerald said the girl involved in the accident was recovering well.
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