Lincoln road crossing 'will improve safety'

By [bbanks]

Campaigning residents say a new pedestrian crossing will make life better and reduce accidents on a busy Lincoln road.

After years of calling for safety improvements, a puffin crossing has now been built in Rookery Lane, near the junction with Newark Road.

And locals, some of whose family members have been in accidents with motorists coming round the blind corner, are ecstatic.

Off licence sales assistant Sally Longstaff, 39, from De Wint Avenue, said: "I'm really pleased because I have to cross this road four times a day when I take my children to and from school," she said.

The new crossing has been built – and two nearby crossings upgraded – in response to the Boultham Moorland Community Travel Zone survey, in which it was residents' third-highest priority for the area.

Puffin crossings have sensors which can vary the length of crossing time according to the speed of the user – giving disabled or elderly people longer – or even cancel the request to cross if it detects there is nobody waiting anymore.

City councillor Keith Weaver, who lives in nearby Grainsby Close, said: "I know how many people use this crossing on a daily basis and I've know three children who live near me who have had accidents.

"I also know wheelchair users who are too terrified to cross this road.

"So, after the years of campaigning, I'm delighted that the county council has installed this crossing."