Puffin crossing is solution (From Halesowen News)

Puffin crossing is solution

2:21pm Thursday 21st June 2012 in Letters

OBVIOUSLY, using the river Stour tunnel or a bridge over the A456 would enable pedestrians to safely cross the Halesowen Bypass (Letters, June 7).

However, the most convenient and cheapest solution is likely to be Puffin pedestrian crossings because the council has already installed most of the crossings’ infrastructure.

Puffin crossingswere designed for high-volume traffic locations and enable pedestrians to cross during traffic gaps, so a major impact on traffic flow is unlikely.

Additionally, the June 2010 pedestrian survey showed that pedestrian traffic is spread throughout the day and the peak of pedestrians crossing the A456 is not at the morning or evening busy periods.

I suggested in 2008 that the use of part-time traffic signals at peak time would improve traffic flow and pedestrian safety. Although widely used on motorway slip-roads, this system is not recommended in Department for Transport Guidance. Therefore, the council has not pursued this avenue, although it has ignored DfT Guidance in Dudley’s Policy for Pedestrian Crossing Justification!

Perhaps a problem is that Officers and councillors are not sufficiently interested in this part of Halesowen, although it is the main motorway gateway and the home of most sporting activities in Halesowen.

The Grange Island verges are a mess, unfinished, with weeds three feet high due to no grass cutting and the traffic island the bleakest spot in Halesowen.

John Young Halesowen