REPLACING an unpopular zebra crossing with traffic lights is the “top priority” of the county council’s cabinet member for highways.

Councillor Alan Amos told the Worcester News this week the crossing in Pheasant Street is the issue people in the city complain about “more than anything”, adding: “I know how keen people are to get the crossing right.”

The Bedwardine councillor revealed exclusively to us last month that plans for a controlled crossing at the busy site near the Asda superstore are at the design stage and will be completed before 2020.

He has since said there are a number of projects the highways team are overseeing but understands the crossing will be completed following work in Sidbury.

“We have a list of projects and for all intents and purposes, it will be done before the end of the year. It’s just fitting it in. We have all these schemes that are ready to go. Sidbury is next, then it should be the Asda crossing. The money is there.”

Plans for the site were first revealed just weeks after the zebra crossing on Croft Road, between the Hive and racecourse, was replaced with traffic lights as part of a £3.2million grant from the Department of Transport.

The council hopes to improve congestion on the troublesome road, with the work also including the removal of a roundabout.

Cllr Amos still couldn’t reveal at this point how much the Pheasant Street work would cost or where exactly the money has come from – whether part of the annual budget or in some form of grant.

However, he previously said it is part of the council’s “priority” to “deal with congestion” across the county.

“Now we have got the Croft Road crossing done, we are moving onto the next one,” he said.

“We are at the design stage – we’ve had a safety audit done so we know what is best for the crossing. What we can and can’t do. Obviously, pedestrian safety is the number one priority. We have got to deal with the traffic issues.”

He went on to say: “We have worked very hard behind the scenes to deal with this. It’s going to be a new pedestrian crossing to hopefully improve the traffic flow.”

Cllr Amos said he and his colleagues have consulted with other parties including First Bus, before emphasising that the council had made an extra £5 million available in their last budget for congestion schemes.