Issue 459 – Elderly meet with council officials to discuss road crossings

A group of elderly Westbury residents have met with highways officers from Wiltshire Council to discuss traffic crossings in the town.

The residents met with the Wiltshire Council representatives after voicing concerns about the time allowed for crossing the road at traffic lights.
The residents were concerned that not enough time was being allocated to cross, particularly for elderly persons who may not be able to walk very fast.
On Tuesday 23rd March they met with representatives from Wiltshire Council at the pedestrian crossing on West End.
Evelyn Finch, who uses a mobility buggy to get around, said, “Some people, especially those that use sticks, can’t get across.
“Sometimes you get halfway across and cars start crossing behind you. People come down the road so fast, and at the Co-op it’s worse.”
The meeting was arranged by Wiltshire councillor David Jenkins, after residents expressed their concerns to him.
Cllr Jenkins said, “I thought the best thing to do would be to get the highways people together with the residents so they can look at the problem and see if there’s anything they can do to help them.”
At the meeting the timings of the crossing period were checked, and found to be working properly.
Roger Pearce, who works for Wiltshire Council’s highways department said, “The crossings are functioning as they should. The government sets guidelines for how long a crossing should be based on the width of the road.”
Roger Pearce added that there would be no immediate plans to extend the crossing time, but that he was glad to meet residents to help discuss their concerns.