Youngsters support bid for safer crossing in Bolney

Parish council chairman Tony Steer is campaigning for part of the A272 to be a 30mph zone and a safety crossing to be built.

“There have been so many near misses,” he said.

“All the children in Bolney Primary School have written to me asking for a safe school crossing, asking to make the road safe, for a reduction in the speed limit and a safety crossing.”

Cllr Steer said the area is an accident hot spot on Google.

“The amount of school children around there and there’s no safety crossing,” the council chair added.

“People are taking their lives in their own hands, a month ago a tanker went across the pavement and into the field.”

Recently a woman from Bolney was nearly hit by a vehicle on the road whilst crossing it with her children.

A freedom of information request to Sussex police about the road found that in the last three years there have been 11 slight accidents and three serious accidents in the area.

Cllr Steer continued: “I have had a look at the reports and don’t believe they are a true account of what really goes on in this accident hot spot, a lot of the accidents go unreported if there is no injury or road closure needed.

“Last year when we where stepping up the campaign to get a reduction in speed across that area and also trying to get the first safety crossing put in in a stretch of over 11 miles, we studied the amount of accidents in a month period and found that there where 17 accidents, resulting in 12 hours of road closure and huge disruption to the local area.

A young mum with two children that lives by the petrol station was nearly hit whilst standing on the pavement waiting to cross.”

The council is campaigning hard and it is their top priority, but action could be two years away.

Cllr Steer said:“Are they waiting for someone to die before they do something?

“Police are always there checking speed because it is a very fast stretch of road, fencing along that stretch has been replaced six times this year so far and the road signs are always on the floor due to crashes,” he added.

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