New Forest District Council agrees to spend £147,000 on installing crossing on Avenue Road, Lymington, after pedestrian safety concerns

A CROSSING is to be installed on a busy Lymington road after New Forest District Council agreed to spend £147,000 of developer’s contributions to pay for the scheme.

The proposal for Avenue Road comes after councillors and residents expressed “increasing concerns” over the safety of users near to the town’s infant and junior schools.

A report to the council’s cabinet member for planning and economy, Cllr Derek Tipp, who approved the plans, said speeding traffic was of “particular concern”.

To address this, Hampshire County Council, which is responsible for highways, has designed a scheme to widen the pavement on Avenue Road between the schools entrance and the road leading to Lymington Sports Ground.

This includes creating a pinch point, a drop crossing and tactile paving. Investigations into signalisation were considered “not necessary” to deliver the required safety improvements, the report added.

The council estimates the scheme will take around seven months from design and tender to completion.

It adds: “In total there is £146,872 that can be allocated to this scheme. HCC have confirmed that they are confident that this amount is sufficient to design and implement the scheme.

“The identified proposals bring direct environmental benefits through enhancing, improving and increasing capacity of use by non-vehicular transport methods and creating a safe walking/cycling environment.”

The report explained an initial proposal to install speed humps to reduce traffic speeds in Ramley Road in the town has been discontinued in favour of a crossing point near to Our Lady and St Joseph Primary School.

This will include a reduction in the highway to create a pinch point and enable the widening of the footway.

The council had previously allocated £147,710 to this scheme, which is also expected to take around seven months.