Work set to begin on Brook Way raised table crossing

Raised table pedestrian crossing on Brook Way, Bradley Stoke

Work to install a new raised table pedestrian crossing on Brook Way, close to the mini-roundabout at the junction with Wheatfield Drive, is set to commence on Monday (20th June).

The work to install a 75mm high raised table across the full width of the road and widen the island and footway approaches to the crossing could last until Friday 1st July, according to information published in South Gloucestershire Council’s (SGC’s) weekly Road Report.

A pair of ‘children going to school’ warning signs will also be installed on Brook Way (near Brackendene and Dewfalls Drive) as part of the scheme.

The Council warns that temporary two-way traffic signals will be used during the installation work.

The crossing upgrade was first proposed following a a campaign by parents of children at Wheatfield Primary School, who had complained of the difficulty of crossing Brook Way at peak hours.

In December 2009, the Southern Brooks Area Forum agreed to meet the £20,000 cost of the work and a public consultation on the proposals followed in October 2010.

Local politicians later squabbled over who should take credit for winning funding for the project, with the Liberal Democrats’ Jon Williams claiming the Tories were trying to “re-write history”, countered by Brian Allinson saying that Cllr Williams’ “pram [was] increasingly lacking toys”.

Work was originally scheduled to start in February 2011 but objections received in a further public consultation, this time on the Statutory Notice, have pushed back the start of the project.

The latest objections, from the Cyclists’ Touring Club and a local resident, have led to a further modification of the scheme in an effort to discourage motorists from overtaking cyclists on the approaches to the crossing.

A further raised table crossing is set to be installed soon in Pear Tree Road, on the site of the existing zebra crossing near to Holy Trinity Church and Primary School.

Share this page:

21 comments

  1. As I’m no longer a councillor and need to claim any credit for anything, I just thought I would write to let your readers know that my quote in the story was entirely factual. I worked with the parents and the school to rewrite the schools Travel Plan and achieve this safe route to school for many children. Not once did the 2 Tory cllrs for the area attempt to help and so their attempts to claim credit for it is really “re-writing history”. Perhaps next they’ll tell you that when the inevitablt public servcie cuts start to bite that “We’re not cutting enough”.

  2. Does anyone know what type of crossing this will be – full Puffin style or just a zebra crossing? It’s not really clear from the reports.

  3. @Bert, Neither! My understanding is that it’s just a crossing point – without any priority for pedestrians.

  4. Oh. Well, wasn’t that kind of the whole argument from the parents in the first place – that they couldn’t cross the road during rush hour?
    Just a raised table on it’s own won’t change that, it would just mean that the cars are passing more slowly without having to yield.
    At least a belisha beacon would give them a fighting chance.

    Was this actually thought through at all?

  5. A bonkers solution to a minor problem, but the way observations from the public were dismissed during the planning phase confirmed that health and safety risks now trump common sense.

    Drivers wont have to slow down to let pedestrians cross, the only consequence of this table will be yet more wear and tear on our cars and an uncomfortable ride for cyclists and motorbikes.

    Yet again, the profligacy with tax payer’s money shows no sign of being reined in.

  6. Temporary traffic lights are now in place. Expect rush hour delays for the next couple of weeks.

    The right turn from Brook Way northbound into Wheatfield Drive was coned off this evening.

  7. The squabbling over claiming credit just goes to show that politics have no place in local government. Its all about political point scoring often at the expense of the electorate. Utterly pathetic as usual.
    Get rid of political parties in local government so the elector votes for the person not the party and the elected councillor works for the people and not the party

  8. Well said Sid.

    I bet I wasn’t the only one inwardly groaned on reading the school needed a travel plan (which then had to be re-written!).

    So apparently, according to the ex-councillor the crossing wasn’t safe before but now will be. Utter tosh of course because if this was the case then every road crossing would have to have to be a raised table but as I said, the mere mention of H&S risks trumps everything else.

    This should have been a zebra crossing, their crossing priorities are understood, it would have been cheaper, doesn’t endanger cyclists and motorbike riders, doesn’t damage cars and allows free passage for the 23 1/2 hours a day when there are no school kids crossing.

  9. Surely decisions like this are referred to a SGC highways dept. engineer who would make a recommendation based on best practice?
    A raised table just seems such an odd solution to this problem.

  10. OK guys – the reason for the crossing is that parents who walked their young children to school found it really difficult to cross Brook Way in the mornings and afternoon. In the mornings when the cars are bumper to bumper they had to squeeze between cars heading towards Pear Tree roundabout and then face speeding cars coming in the opposite direction. They found the islands in the middle of the road too narrow when pushing a pushchair with a buggy board.

    The school is trying hard to encourage its pupils to walk to school so there are less cars on the road, which in theory would lead to less congestion and pollution in our town. Parent surveys showed that Brook Way was seen as a barrier and so many drove the short distance to school.

    A solution was requested and SGC Highways looked at the various options. The school would have liked to have seen a Puffin crossing, but this was deemed too expensive and noisy. Zebra crossings were deemed to be no that safe. Young children think that they have right of way at such a crossing and will step out into the road expecting cars to stop. Sadly cars don’t always stop and accidents occur. This left the idea of a raised table – not popular I know with some people but the idea will hopefully allow space for people to cross in between cars stacked up along Brook Way in the morning and the extra wide island in the carriageway will accommodate the pushchairs. It should also stop drivers speeding along Brook Way and then discovering the roundabout as they are half way across it. The onus is on the pedestrian to stop and look before crossing the road. Its taken three years to get this – I just hope it’s the right solution.

  11. As a parent who crosses Brook Way to take my young children to school, and campaigned for this crossing, along with being a tax payer – the crossing is a welcomed addition. It was not my preference to have a raised table, but you look to the experts in the Highways dept to advise, this was put forward as a solution, not only to support pedestrians to cross the road, but also to ensure car and bike users were not impacted too badly. Our ideal would have been for a zebra crossing, however statistics prove that this is an unsave crossing mechanism for children, hence the raised table. In european countries, raised tables are common place and therefore there is statistical evidence to demonstrate that this provides a safer place for pedestrians to cross.

    Brook Way is used by cars as a link to Aztec West and the M5, most of the drivers ignore the already in place calming measures (speed bumps) and travel well exceeding the speed limited, my hope is the raised table will encourage drivers to slow down and consider the pedestrian when driving near a school, the school warning signs will also be a welcomed addition to alert drivers.

  12. ^^ That makes slightly more sense. Thanks for the explanation familyguy.
    Still, I find it hard to believe that a Puffin crossing couldn’t be justified by SGC, especially as there isn’t one across the whole length of Brook Way, even at The Common (which is supposed to be a designated cycle route!). Yet they can justify the two crossings on Winterbourne Road, between a field and the Vantage Park, which, strangely, no one ever seems to use!

  13. on a different note, shame there wasn’t some sort of crossing in aztec west, we have no choice but to take chances every day, it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious accident or fatality.

  14. Thanks Bert for your response. We’d have all loved a puffin crossing to, but it was deemed far too expensive. The reason for the traffic lights towards Winterbourne is because of the hundreds of children who walk or cycle to the school in Winterbourne from Bradley Stoke. That’s the idea. If they aren’t using it yet they will be soon as the price of petrol these days it won’t be long before we all have to start cycling!!!

    Sally – if you are really serious about the issue in the Aztec West go to the next Stronger Safer Community Group meeting (sscg) search for details on the SGC website or look at the town council website – it should be on there somewhere. That’s how the Brook Way one started. Lobby the town council and your SGC member and why not get all those companies based at Aztec West to write in. Surely they would prefer their staff to walk or cycle to work safely. Good luck.

  15. Actually, there’s no point lobbying SGC for a crossing on Aztec West as it’s private land. You need to write to Arlington Business Parks / Goodman, who own the site.

  16. I accept that there are many good reasons for a crossing of Brook Way, but why do so many children need to cross it when there a number of primary schools (Stoke Lodge and Patchway) that do not need young children to cross this road.

    A simple zebra crossing would be easier to install, perhaps with a large island in the middle.

    On the subject of speed, I agree that the many people do drive to fast, but Brook Way is a major transport link for Bradley Stoke traffic should be allowed to flow safely.

  17. Yet another waste of local funds and furthermore, delays my visit to the local Tesco’s due to the disruption of the works. Bread doesn’t get any fresher by the minute you know!

  18. I can not believe the waste of money on this project. I for one know how to cross the road. I can not believe that we are having to pay over 20k as some parents can not look left or right then left and right again. This is just another example of what society is today. I for one feel offended that when I cross that road people are slowing down due to the sign pointing out that usually there are a bunch of half baked local residents who can not and will not look out for cars properly.

    May I respectfully suggest that a donation of just 25% of that value to the Bradley Stoke Cycle club would do more for community cohesion and good old Olympic spirit. At the end of the day if our future gold medal cyclists can’t cross the road without breaking a leg then they don’t deserve a gold medal at all.

    What’s next…Road signs from the head chef at Harvester reminding parents to feed their children.

  19. This is a total waste of money, I was sat in my car waiting for the traffic light to change the other day and not one car slowed down to go over this island. What is this place coming to, its a joke!

  20. Doesn’t look that its making any difference, people still speeding along that road & over it! Waste of money to be honest

Comments are closed.