No changes to Station Parade crossing despite pedestrian's death

The elderly pedestrian was crossing 10 metres away from the lights when he was struck by an oncoming car in October last year.

Despite dying from the injuries he sustained six days later, the investigation concluded the accident was no fault of the £100,000 ‘scramble crossing’.

The news will disappoint nearby business owners who have dubbed the crossing an ‘utter nightmare’ of safety concerns and traffic jams.

Coun Don Mackenzie, executive member for Highways, stressed the accident was not caused by the crossing but admitted he could understand pedestrians’ confusion.

He said: “In this case, clearly the scramble crossing was in no way to blame because the pedestrian wasn’t using it.

“No crossing is safe, even with the best of visibility, if a pedestrian crosses on red or a car goes through on red.

“As it is, the crossing is safe and there is no question about that. As long as the pedestrians wait for the green man.

“Personally, I am not satisfied with the crossing. There is still an element of confusion and I can see pedestrians looking nervously at one another.”

The report states that at ‘various points’ pedestrians were observed crossing the junction despite the signals being on red.

As a result, Coun Mackenzie is hoping to introduce a countdown clock at the ‘earliest possibility, that informs pedestrians of how long they have to cross.

However, Dennis MacFarlane, managing director at Up & Running, has criticised the report’s findings and urged the county council to find a suitable solution.

He said: “The Scramble crossing is a continuous frustration to me and all the traders on lower station parade.

“There was nothing wrong with the junction before, no one can understand why it needed changing when it wasn’t broken.

“No vehicles are moving and no pedestrians are crossing. Everyone is wondering why there are more traffic jams than ever before.”

Coun Mackenzie admitted it was a ‘complicated crossing’ but stressed that it gave more protection to pedestrians crossing Lower Station Parade than before it was introduced.

He said: “Far more pedestrians than cars use it so it was always going to slow traffic down.”