Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Crossing call at city school
Fears over safety of pupils
A MUM is calling for action to improve kids’ safety near Dundee’s biggest primary school.
Angela Lyall, 47, says pupils at Forthill Primary School in Broughty Ferry are at risk at a busy junction outside the school.
The mother-of-four is campaigning for a crossing to be installed at the junction of Balgillo Road and Forthill Road.
Tayside Contracts, which runs the school crossing patrols, was criticised earlier this year after ordering a lollipop lady not to help children crossing Forthill Road and only assist pupils at Balgillo Road.
And with pupils now back in school after the summer break, Angela believes the firm missed an opportunity to improve road safety before the youngsters returned.
She said: “Nothing has changed as far as safety is concerned.
“There weren’t really any problems during the summer with the schools being off but now that they are back it’s the same problem.
“It’s both the volume of cars and the speeding that’s the concern — there are kids darting across Forthill Road themselves and there’s nothing there to stop them.
“The lollipop lady is watching them coming down and she has no say over it.”
Angela added: “We need traffic lights or a zebra crossing at that junction.
“There have been a lot of nearmisses there and I’ve tried to help children across the road myself because I’ve been so anxious for them.
“The issue before was that Tayside Contracts couldn’t put the lollipop lady at that position because of the danger of parked cars.
“So they actually acknowledge that there is a problem.
“The volume of traffic in that area is just unacceptable.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “We have been contacted by a parent and will be responding to them directly.”