County finally acts to repaint faded St Albans crossing

FOLLOWING mounting complaints from residents, the faded lines of a pedestrian crossing on a busy St Albans road have finally been repainted.

But Herts county council (HCC) has been criticised for “neglecting” the crossing, on Sandpit Lane near its intersection with Beaumont Avenue.

Herts county councillor for St Albans central Chris White said it was only recently painted after he wrote to the county’s legal department to warn them that he would testify against HCC if anyone was injured or, “Heaven forbid killed as a result of their negligence”.

He said that it was “like pushing water uphill” dealing with the county council.

Cllr White added: “It should not have taken a dozen emails and calls to get some simple action on what is ultimately a matter of pedestrian safety.”

St Albans district councillor for Ashley Anthony Rowlands added: “There are still far too many small repairs that the county council has neglected.

“We will be on to them one-by-one and won’t be accepting their usual excuses.”

Cllr Rowlands said although he had campaigned to have the crossing installed it was “appalling” it was allowed to fade away adding, “there were reports from residents of near misses”.

Cllr White said: “I first raised this over two years ago and have been given various excuses - wrong sort of weather being the primary one. I cannot see why a simple job like this can’t be done, especially when the safety of pedestrians is so clearly at stake.”