Here's hoping the wait is nearly over (From Wharfedale Observer)

Here's hoping the wait is nearly over

4:50pm Thursday 17th December 2009

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As accident statistics only too starkly demonstrate each year, winter is the most dangerous time for pedestrians when it comes to road safety.

A combination of the early dark nights and bad weather makes the business of crossing roads more dangerous than usual, and drivers are faced with often hazardous conditions.

So it is to be regretted that a much-touted new zebra crossing for Farnley Lane, Otley, near Prince Henry's Grammar School, will not now be in place until 2010.

There have already been too many instances of near-misses or actual, fortunately minor, accidents in this area involving pupils from the school, many of whom have to cross at least twice a day.

The need for such a crossing was only too vividly demonstrated last February when a 13-year-old, Eireann Kitching-Foster, was hit and knocked into the air by a passing vehicle, yet incredibly walked away with only bruising.

That incident spurred the school, aided by parents, governors and ward councillors, to step up their efforts to get a crossing and it looked like they were rewarded this summer whan details of a new £42,500 scheme were announced.

It seemed then that the crossing would be in place well before winter but, alas, events outwith anybody’s control – to do with drainage issues around Farnley Lane – have meant the work won't even start now until the New Year.

Luckily, that is only a week or two away. Let us hope the project now proceeds apace without any more hiccups so we can all soon raise a toast (and breathe a sigh of relief) to 2010 being the year when a new crossing helped our children get to and from their school more safely.

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