Mill Lane: A Tale of Two Crossings
Lib Dems in Windsor are furious to discover money available for crossings in Windsor has not been spent at Mill Lane.
Questions have again been raised about how the council prioritises its spending, which were also raised in the recent report by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy (CIPFA) into the council's administration, after the installation of a new duplicate pedestrian crossing in Alma Road less than 80 metres from an existing crossing in a location with light footfall.
The duplicate crossing was requested by one of the Conservative Ward councillors in an area which has had no history of accidents, unlike the the Mill Lane Roundabout which is a recognoised accident black spot.
The council was supposed to have installed a £67,000 Toucan traffic light crossing across Maidenhead Road to link Mill Lane to Parsonage Lane in the 2018-19 financial year as part of its Cycling Action Plan.
"It's a matter of priorities, it appears a crossing requested by Tory Councillors on a whim in Alma Road, where there have been no accidents in 10 years has been given priority over improving the Mill Lane crossing, where there have been 2 serious accidents in the last six months," says Clewer East's Cllr Amy Tisi.
Mill Lane Roundabout
One child was run over in September and another in March. There have been 10 serious accidents at Mill Lane in the last 10 years. Mill Lane is the third worst accident "black spot" for cyclists in Berkshire. It was promised that a traffic light controlled crossing would be installed here in 2018-19 but nothing happened.
New Crossing on Alma Road
Alma Road now has no less than six pedestrian crossings along its length. The new crossing is just 80 metres from another crossing. There have been no accidents at the location of the new crossing in the last 10 years. The crossing was asked for by a Tory Councillor after 'requests from residents.' The council don't even know how many residents wanted the duplicate crossing.
Claimed Link to Other Junctions
In responding to a Freedom of Information Act Request from Windsor Liberal Democrats, the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead (RBWM) said, "The reason for the project (at Mill Lane) not going ahead was due to works at nearby junctions having taken place."
In replying to subsequent request to know which junctions were referred to RBWM advised that the other two junctions were Maidenhead Road / Stovell Road and Victoria Street / Sheet Street. It was not made clear how works at these two junctions were supposed to in any way affect driver behaviour at the Mill Lane junction and this is the subject of another Freedom of Information Act Request.
Local Lib Dems think spending on road safety should be based on evidence, not on the random whims of local Conservatives.
Sources: