Petition for crossing outside school where drivers race at 40mph receives 1,400 signatures

By Joe Coughlan, Local Democracy Reporter

A petition to add a pedestrian crossing outside a school has received over 1,400 signatures, as traffic in the area is so bad that students can’t get in or out without the “fear of being struck down by a car”.

Greenwich council has received a petition from the students and staff of Harris Academy Greenwich in Eltham to add a pedestrian crossing and more signs for the 20mph zone on Middle Park Avenue.

Council documents said the petition currently has 1,439 signatures. The topic will be discussed at a full council meeting for Greenwich council on June 28.

Council documents said the community of the school “urgently” needed a pedestrian crossing, along with clearer signage for the existing 20mph zone.

The petition also claimed it was the responsibility of the council, who receive funding from TfL, to install such measures.

The petition was previously raised at a highways committee meeting on April 5. Labour Councillor Rachel Taggart-Ryan, who represents the Middle Park and Horn Park ward, said at the meeting that the headmaster of the school told her three children had been injured on the road due to speeding cars, with two going to hospital as a result.

She said: “The problem is they cannot get in and out of the building without the fear of being struck down by a car regardless of how many people have been walking and regardless of how many of them cycle.”

The councillor said that many drivers on the road pass at speeds of 40mph, disregarding the 20mph limit in the area. She said she had met with the headmaster of the school twice to discuss the topic.

Council documents said clearer signage for the 20 mph zone on the road had already been added.

Council officers have reportedly started considering the feasibility of adding a new pedestrian crossing on Middle Park Avenue, and that they have made initial contact with TfL on the topic.

Labour Councillor Jo van den Broek said at the highways committee meeting that she couldn’t find anywhere safe to cross when she visited the road recently.

She said: “I think it’s interesting that there’s such a long stretch of a fairly busy road that doesn’t have any crossings at all… It’s not ideal, not just for the school, but for pedestrian movement throughout the borough to not have a safe crossing of some description.”

Picture: Middle Park Avenue, where Cllr Taggart-Ryan said 1300 students from Harris Academy Greenwich come out on to (Picture: Google Earth)