Lydiard and Freshbrook Councillor, Matthew Courtliff, has welcomed Swindon Council’s agreement to extend the “buildout” on Gainsborough Way to make the crossing across Gainsborough Way safer for pupils and parents of Millbrook Primary School.
Over the course of July a trial was undertaken to make the crossing safer. The design centred around the creation of a second ‘buildout’ on the side of the road which does not currently have one i.e. on the side of the houses. This created a single running lane between the two ‘buildouts’ which would only be wide enough for one vehicle, with the aim of vehicles having to slow and wait either side of this narrow section for an opportunity to travel through.
The trial was done using cones and since they were inserted we have found the ‘buildout’ worked well and appeared to slow traffic and make it easier for pedestrians to cross. One issue that was raised was parked cars causing line of sight issues and this issue has been taken in to account by the council in their final design.
With the trial being largely successful the construction of a permanent ‘buildout’ is planned to be built during the October school break. To address the parked cars issue, double yellow lines will be extended.
Cllr Courtliff believes the success of getting the Council to insert this ‘buildout’ is testament to the excellent campaign ran by Millbrook Primary School and their pupils and parents and he thanks them for all of their hard work in achieving this.