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Pensioners fight for road crossing
Residents want a road crossing at West Paddock, Leyland
A Leyland pensioner is terrified she’ll be forced to stay indoors if nothing is done to resolve traffic problems on her street.
Shirley Leyland, 77, from Jubilee Court off West Paddock, uses a mobility scooter to go shopping, visit her friends, and go to the doctors.
To access anywhere in town, she has to cross busy West Paddock, and says she struggles to reach the other side before cars come her way.
“It’s always been bad,” she said. “But it’s got much worse over the last few years.
“I wait until the road is clear, but by the time I’m half way across, more cars have turned up.
“It’s just so busy; we really need a zebra crossing.”
Mrs Leyland said Lancashire County Council looked at the situation around 10 years ago, but it wasn’t as busy back then.
“It’s a really serious issue now,” she said. “It’s terrible, and I am worried that I’m going to have to stop going out.
“I try to get out and about every day, but it’s getting more difficult because of the road.
“When Fox Lane was closed a few weeks ago, West Paddock was horrendous, and I just couldn’t leave the house.”
Councillors for the area, Fred Heyworth and Joseph Kelly, launched a campaign with residents to ask LCC to install a zebra or pelican crossing on the road.
More than 300 people signed the petition.
Coun Heyworth said: “It’s been a concern for residents for a while now, because it’s very difficult to cross the road. It gets busy because of the surgery, so a crossing is long overdue.”
Resident Joan Stephenson, 80, has lived in West Paddock for 10 years. She said: “It’s a marvel nothing has been done already.
“The bus stop into Leyland town centre is at the other side of the road too; you have to cross West Paddock to get anyway in town really.
“Something needs sorting out, and soon.”
Rachel Crompton, highways manager for South Ribble at LCC, said: “We are aware of long-held local interest in improvements for pedestrians crossing the road to reach the pharmacy and GP.
“However at this stage we are keeping an open mind on what might be feasible as we have not finished reviewing details of the accidents recorded by the police on West Paddock, which will give us an indication of what sort of improvements would be of greatest value.”
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Weather for Leyland
Thursday 23 May 2013
Today
Light showers
Temperature: 7 C to 11 C
Wind Speed: 35 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 6 C to 13 C
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