Dangerous pedestrian crossing outside New Rickstones Academy needs fixing, says Witham MP

Priti Patel, the MP for Witham, visited New Rickstones Academy last Friday and met with headteacher Mr Simon Gibbs to see first hand the situation outside of the school gates at 3pm where students need to cross Conrad road to start their journey home.

Mr Gibbs showed Priti how busy the road gets with traffic and how unsafe the sole existing pedestrian crossing is for students, pedestrians and staff. With a number of schools in close proximity to each other on Conrad Road, at 3pm almost 2,000 pupils are starting their journeys home, with a significant number needing to cross Conrad road.

Due to the sheer number of students exiting the school grounds, teachers from New Rickstones are having to act as traffic marshals to hold oncoming cars so that pupils can safely use the pedestrian crossing, a situation that is not sustainable and raises significant safety concerns.

Priti said: “I am aware of how concerned parents and teachers are about the safety on Conrad Road and this pedestrian crossing outside of New Rickstones Academy. Both parents and the school have raised this issue with me recently and after seeing the situation at the school gates first hand last Friday I very much share their concerns.

I have made urgent representations to Essex County Council on this matter, and hope to see the Cabinet Member for Highways and his officials onsite very soon so that they can see for themselves this situation which needs addressing.”

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