Crieff’s school crossing danger
A study into road hazards in Crieff has reported several danger spots, particularly where children cross to get to school.
A community street audit was recently carried out by road safety organisation Living Streets, in partnership with Crieff Community Council, to identify the difficulties pedestrians face walking to the three schools along Broich Road.
The information gathering was described as important, particularly in light of the near-fatal incident in November 2015, when a local resident was pinned to a wall by a double decker bus which mounted the pavement.
Craig Finlay, chair of Crieff CC, said: “Those who took part in the audit on the day - including Crieff CC, Crieff Community Trust, St Dominic’s RC Primary School and interested members of the public - identified many hazards on the pedestrian routes to schools from Pittenzie Road, Duchlage Road and Duchlage Court, Burrell Street and, of course, the dangerous Broich Road.
“The major obstacles which stood out were the difficulty in crossing busy roads at Gallowhill and also between Hebridean Gardens and Pittenzie Road.
“Outside St Dominic’s PS, small buses park on the road at around 3pm, and this causes congestion.”
He noted that Crieff CC would write to gas group SGN and Crieff Highland Gathering committee to see if empty land on either side of Broich Road could be utilised to remove this problem.
One of the findings of the audit was that a pedestrian access to school through the town’s community garden off Monteath Street could potentially be the safest option.
But access through the garden was closed off by Strathearn Community Campus management in spring 2016 due to puddling on some sections of pathway.
A petition gaining around 400 signatures to have the route reopened was submitted to Perth and Kinross Council, but no further action has been taken.
The final report drawn up by Living Streets will identify small, medium and long-term suggestions to improve these key walking routes to school.
It will be available in the coming weeks.