Crossing set up in safety zone
Blind OAP’s ordeal negotiating road
A temporary road crossing has been installed on a city centre street which has been closed since last month over safety concerns surrounding a building there.
Stirling Council improved pedestrian safety by erecting the temporary traffic lights in Port Street last week to allow footfall to safely make its way around a ‘safety exclusion zone’ set up.
A section of Port Street has been out of bounds to pedestrians and the road has been closed in one direction since December 20 following the discovery of a defect in the building above the Let’s Party shop.
The road there has been shut in one direction, meaning vehicles travelling from Dumbarton Road and Upper Craigs are unable to turn on to Port Street. On Friday (January 17), the
Observer told how the daughter of a partially-sighted elderly Stirling woman called for safety measures to be put in place.
Marion MacAllister said her 87-yearold mother, Jean Clark, was forced to step out in to the road in Port Street to negotiate her way around a ‘safety exclusion zone’ there.
Mrs MacAllister was left upset when she discovered that her mother was forced to walk into oncoming traffic to make her way around the barricade. Mrs Clark, a resident at Allan Park House, is blind in one eye and partially sighted in the other.
She had attempted to make her way to the Iceland store in Pitt Terrace on Thursday, January 9, when she reached the cordon and had to make her way around it. She stepped out in to the road, where vehicles are still able to travel and access Dumbarton Road and Upper Craigs.
After the issue was raised by the Observer, workers from the council set up the temporary walkway on Thursday evening.
A Stirling Council spokesperson last week said: “There are signs already in place directing people towards the permanent crossings and we would encourage pedestrians to follow them.
“Protecting the public while ensuring as much business continuity as possible is our paramount concern. We greatly appreciate the patience and understanding of the public during this period of unforeseen disruption.”