Following high-level meetings last year to examine what could be done, council officials have drawn up initial options to improve safety with pedestrian crossings on Harewood Avenue. Work will continue on developing the plans and we expect proposals to be put to local consultation later this year.
Three accidents near the junction of Melcombe Place and Harewood Avenue last year led Councillor Sheila D'Souza to take the campaign direct to the city council's Cabinet Member for Transport.
Councillor D'Souza said: “As local residents ourselves your councillors know how important this issue is and have been campaigning hard, working closely with residents and businesses, to improve safety in this area. I am delighted by the real progress we have made in partnership with the council, and am confident we can secure some real improvements. Keep watching this space!”
Councillors also wish to report that their requests to Chiltern Railways on behalf of residents have had positive responses. Chiltern asked Network Rail (owner of the land between the station and the Landmark Hotel) to repair its section of the Melcombe Place roadway. One carriageway was done in November and the other in March. Network Rail has also pruned the mature trees outside the Landmark Hotel and repaired the blocked gulley which used to flood. Finally, Network Rail has accepted responsibility for the faulty lamp-posts outside the Landmark Hotel. Fingers crossed that they are fixed soon.
Bryanston and Dorset Square News