Has anyone campaigned for a zebra crossing?

[Phunny]

I live in a small town and walk to nursery every day. I have to cross a busy road, 30mph but it seems like everyone is going much faster. I think there should be a zebra crossing and want to campaign for one. I’ve looked on the council website and I can ask for a survey but it sounds like unless there is a history of accidents, there won’t be one. But I feel like this is an accident waiting to happen. Any thoughts or advice from anyone who has followed this up with their council would be appreciated. Thanks.

Not personally, but it was successful in a nearby town
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/21728159.stowmarket-suffolk-county-council-confirm-pedestrian-crossing-will-built-school-children-petition/
I think the key is getting media involved

no. but our neighbourhood association campainged successfully to replace a zebra crossing with a pelican traffic light.

took years though. had to do obseevations and surveys, foi on traffic incidents at the crossing, survey of afected people, public consultation (and more, can't remember.
and as london had to involve both tfl and the planning department of the council.

was wonderful once done though.

good luck!

basically you have to convince whoever is responsible for that stretch of road to put in a planning application. and then to build it before the permit expires.

unfortunately it's not as easy as painting a few lines on the road surface.

I would start with your Parish or Town Council. There are Local Highway Initiative schemes that can be applied to for small (relatively!) projects such as crossings/extending pavements/speed reduction schemes etc.

First step would be to find the email address of the Parish/Town Clerk and email your thoughts to them, and ask for them to raise it with the Councillors.

I sit on a Parish Council, and we really welcome these sorts of ideas from parishioners. We'd know how and when to take the plan forward if we agreed it was a sensible suggestion.

What HappyAsASandboy said - your parish council will help, that's what the Local Highways Initiatives are for. They can also help get stretches of road lowered to 20mph, and install speed bumps etc.

Thanks so much everyone for the really useful & practical advice. I will let you know how I get on!

The parents at the local primary school to me staged a sit down when the council refused a zebra crossing at the school. They all sat in the road all day for a week. They got it after that. Tried to find an article, but was early 2000s, possibly even late 90s when it happened.

Wow @AdditionalCharacter that’s one way of going about it! Thanks. I had been thinking maybe traffic calming / a 20mph zone could help if a zebra crossing is too difficult, but it sounds like Sunak is trying to get rid of those too :-(

Following with interest as want to do similar. Might be easier to get a change to a 20mph zone as is much cheaper to implement - just requires changing signage.

Saying that, the road I want to get a crossing on is 20 and everyone speeds with seemingly no consequences.

Also following. In exactly the same situation right outside a primary school. It’s 20 but crazy busy and not safe for the children crossing

It will depend on things like accident statistics, the location (crossings need clear sight lines for motorists, or they will actually be more dangerous for pedestrians, can’t be in front of driveways or on-street parking), the number and speed of traffic and the number of pedestrians.

A speed limit change could be one way to go, but they too are subject to rules and regulations and need to be enforced otherwise there is a false sense of security.

In the past I worked in the road safety team for a county council so this is based on my experience. Raising it with the Parish Council is probably the best way to go though.

Great advice @MagpiePi , thank you. Hmm the visibility around the corner isn’t brilliant, that’s partly why it feels so unsafe. Let’s see what the parish council say.