Call for new crossing ahead of drive-thrus
Urgent road and pedestrian crossing improvements are needed if plans for new Greggs and Starbucks outlets in Sunderland are to go ahead, say Lib Dem councillors.
Plans have been submitted for two drive-through outlets on the former Dewhurst site atPennywellIndustrialEstate, next to the existing Aldi supermarket,KFCandWickesstore.
But councillors say measuresareneededtoavoidtraffic problems on the roundabout linking the retail park to Chester Road and the A19 if the development goes ahead.
They are also calling for a new pedestrian crossing to allowsafe,ground-levelaccessto the new outlets.
Atpresent,theHastingsHill subway under Chester Road is theonlylinkfromGrindonand Hastings Hill but ward member Cllr Margaret Crosby said many local people preferred to risk crossing the four lanes of traffic.
“For years this subway has been notorious and subject to regular vandalism, anti-social behaviour and arson which means many residents don’t feel comfortable using it,” she said.
“With two new retail units now on the cards and more local people wanting to cross from Grindon and Hastings Hill estates to the new Greggs and Starbucks, Sunderland Council needs to get a grip and urgently commit to installing asafe,ground-levelpedestrian crossing.
“A new crossing could be
part of efforts to improve the trafficflowontheHastingsHill roundabout.
"This would also help local people to get out from Hastings Hill and Grindon onto the mainroadwhichisanabsolute nightmare in rush hours.”
A city council spokesman said funding to improve the Hasting Hill underpass had been part of the previous planning permission for the site and a new crossing had been considered but ruled out.
He said: “There have been requestsforapedestriancrossing to replace the subway but this is not considered to be feasible based on highway constraints.”