Thanet councillors have approved ‘in principle’ plans to install a zebra crossing on Margate Road in Ramsgate but say alterations need to be made.
Kent County Council proposes to install the crossing close to the Whitehall Road/Newlands Lane junctions “to provide a safer crossing point in this part of Margate Road for pedestrians, including students travelling to and from Royal Harbour Academy (lower site) and children with parents travelling to Foreland Fields Primary School.”
The plan comes after a petition was raised by Ramsgate mum Gemma Bellingham after her son, then 11, was seriously injured after being hit by a car on his way home from school in January 2022.
Royal Harbour Academy student Lincoln was hit by a vehicle in Margate Road. He was treated at the scene and taken to QEQM Hospital before being airlifted to Kings College Hospital suffering with a fractured skull and hematoma, multiple cuts on his face and legs and bruising to his ribs.
Following this, Gemma launched the petition for a crossing at the viaduct end of the road in a bid to make sure no-one else’s child was hurt or worse as they attempted to cross.
Councillors at a Joint Transportation Meeting on Thursday (September 12) were agreed that the crossing is needed but said it needs to be moved away from the Whitehall Road junction, further towards the viaduct.
Cllr John Davis said: “There’s no doubt there needs to be assistance for crossing the road because it’s a death trap.
“(But) I do not believe the crossing is in a sensible position just at the junction of Whitehall Road.”
Councillors voiced concerns that the location would cause issues as cars “shoot out” from the busy junction and that removing the refuge island from that junction was the wrong decision.
Cllr Anne-Marie Nixey said Ramsgate Town Council had backed plans for a crossing but had also come to the conclusion that it needed moving away from the junction.
Committee chairman Cllr Ros Binks highlighted that all agreed the measures were “necessary” but it needed to “go back to the drawing board in regards to the crossing and refuge island”
The committee concluded that they: “recommend these works in principle, however, we have concerns with regard to the position of the crossing, which we feel will lead to further risk to safety and we have concerns with regard to the removal of the safety island in Whitehall Road which will also be a potential case of safety problems.”
The scheme, which will cost approximately £65,000, currently proposes:
- Removing the southern pedestrian island (closest to the viaduct) and replace it with a new zebra crossing. The zebra crossing would include zig-zag lines, striped markings, and flashing orange ‘belisha’ beacon lanterns.
- Widening the footway either side of Newlands Road to reduce the distance pedestrians need to cross. Widening the footway on the opposite side of the road was considered but as it would affect driveway access, widening by Newlands Road was the preferred option.
- Installing bollards on the widened footways to prevent cars parking where they might block sightlines for the zebra crossing and therefore compromising road safety.
- Installing high friction surfacing on the approaches to the zebra crossing.
- Removing the pedestrian island in Whitehall Road to enable large vehicles to turn into and out of the road and install a new dropped kerb.
- The existing pedestrian refuge located outside no.116 would remain, and the dropped kerbs and tactile paving would be improved at all crossing points.
The recommendation from councillors on the Joint Transportation Board will now be sent to Kent County Council.
Too many drivers treat the zig-zag approaches to zebra crossings as free parking spots.
The crossing near Tesco’s in Hereson Road (Ramsgate) is a particularly bad example.
To my knowledge, no one has ever been prosecuted for parking on these zigzags.
Agree with you Phyllis but I feel loads of drivers not all don’t give a hoot a care about any of the highway code they have past their tests questionable by so many of them and we will drive how we want to, they say you are a walk9you haven’t a clue they say this but many of us walkers have pas9the tests but don’t drive 100 yards to the shops. Only one thing Phyllis is there have been drivers prosecuted for parking on zig-zags well one for certain in Bexley village only I was parked about 20 feet past the crossing and three parked behind me the 3rd one got done 2nd got a £80 ticket fine/for parking 2 inches on the lines it happens occasionally but not in thanet.
Good to have a crossing, but what a coward Polly Billington MP is to request comments are turned off on her article about winter fuel allowances. So much spin and half truths and doublespeak in the party line she obediently trots out, without the honesty to face her constituents.
If you are one of her constituents, then you have an absolute right ro see her face to face.
Book an appointment at her surgery.
Hi Phyllis sorry but some people are unable to attend Polly’s surgery whatever happens.So I will email her as I have and did with Craig only difference Craig always replied to me still waiting polly since July and no I didn’t vote for either Craig or Polly
You could always book a surgery appointment with her if you’re so inclined and not just terminally online and moan alot without affecting the change within your power to do so? or would that be too easy?
Quite agree, regarding Ms. Billington, pathetic that she wishes to spout but not be questioned. Similarly for the request to be accepted, it was said in here in regard to another politician that they had thick skin as it was part and parcel of politics and as such any criticism was water off a ducks back.
If she only wants one way discourse she should restrict her utterings to her own website.
“Quite agree, regarding Ms. Billington, pathetic that she wishes to spout but not be questioned.”
Have you tried booking a surgery appointment, or are you whinging for the sake of it?
Anon, i have a problem with those ,who wish to represent us , that opine in public but wish to be able to do so without being questioned. The democratic process is a two way thing. As I also pointed out when comments were made against other politicians in the run up to the election and people commented , Kathies response was that being a politiican meant they would be used to negative comments and part of the job was accepting this (or words to that effect).
She should either comment in public and accept comment, or only talk in private. Or is her aim only to be some sort of propagandist.?
We may not agree on that but such is life.
I felt the same way about comments being switched off.
She can make her statement on line HERE but we are not allowed to respond HERE!
Censorship comes to mind where I disagreed with most of what she said but am not allowed to give my view.
Who ever voted her in? Not I, for certain.
Zebra Crossings should be put down BEFORE anyone is injured or killed, the councils TDC and KCC always do things backwards and painfully slowly. The Zebra needs to be near the junction of Whitehall Road a blind man could see that but no the counsellors
have to a site meeting to waste more time. I hope the lad who was injured has made a full recovery. Also is there any chance of police on foot patrol to observe the idiots who are speeding and parking on zig zags. The less the police have to do the less they want to do.
KCC operate on what they call a ‘cost benefit analysis’, which is really a body count, in which nothing gets done unless someone is killed or maimed, as here.
There is no such thing as an ‘accident’, only bad driving.
TDC have very little input, unless it is subscribing money from s106 or on street parking funding.
At long last the JTB has met, but delaying the project still further for additional cogitation is not good. Sometimes having the pretty good is better than trying to achieve the perfect.
How many more persons have to die or be badly injured until the crossing is finished? What’s more the cost is not going to stay the same while the plans are redrawn.
This HYS is about road safety, not winter fuel payments, or Polly Billington.
Berating Polly B or ranting at her, is not the same as putting questions to her, and I can see why she might not relish misogynist old farts spitting insults at her.
That said I think we ought to consider two things:
Polly Billington should grow a thicker skin, because as a politician, you are bound to annoy someone, but more importantly the way we treat female politicians, politicians whose antecedents are not WASP, and politicians who are not strictly heterosexual is appalling, and a blot on our democratic credentials. We cannot point fingers at Trump, Putin, the regime in Iran and the Taliban, when behave no better than them.Some right here have forgotten their humanity when indulging in this behaviour.
Jesus H Christ, George how you got from zebra crossings, to Putin, whilst spreading bile on an MP (nothing to do with KCC Traffic) is astronomically weird. May I suggest you get therapy?
Move the crossing further towards the viaduct and those people (mostly children) wishing to go down Whitehall Road will not walk further away to cross just to walk back up.