'Worn-away' crossing is a danger to pedestrians
The worn-away zebra crossing in Alma Road, St Albans. - Credit: Matt Adams
A St Albans dad is calling for urgent action at a faded zebra crossing which motorists frequently ignore before someone is injured or killed.
Stephen Coade recently moved to Alma Road with his partner and their one-year-old son.
Their house is directly opposite Playschool Nursery, near the corner of Oswald Road, which is a busy short cut to the train station using the zebra crossing half-way down Alma Road.
But Stephen says he has stopped using the crossing because it is too dangerous, with many motorists driving through without realising they should stop for pedestrians.
He explained: "I am typically met with one of four outcomes from motorists: they stop to let me cross about one in every five times; they are oblivious and drive through without realising there is a zebra crossing, which is the most common; they see it too late and have to drive through because they are on the other side; or I get an explicit gesture or a similar profanity.
"I believe the reasons for this that as Alma Road is a long straight stretch of road and the crossing is in the middle motorists have build up too much speed to notice and zoom right through.
"Plus the white zebra markings on the road have totally faded due to the amount of traffic on Alma Road which doesn’t help motorists in being able to see the crossing."
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After contacting the Herts Ad to see if we could investigate the issue, Stephen sent a shocked message from his phone: "It happened again, just now!
"This guy just didn’t give a toss and drove straight through. I’m standing at the crossing with a buggy. It really is unbelievable!"
A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “Our Highways team is aware of this matter and prioritises pedestrian crossings such as this one.
"We will be considering this site among our county-wide programme of works for later in 2022. There have been no reported collisions that resulted in an injury in the latest five year period for this crossing.”
If you or anyone you know has had a traffic incident at the Alma Road zebra crossing please send an email to almaroadzebracrossing@gmail.com and someone will be in touch. Thanks.
