A CALL has been made by a concerned parent for a safe pedestrian crossing on Haslemere’s busy Lower Street from the railway station to the bus stop opposite.

A teenage girl suffered head injuries after being hit outside the station entrance, in October 2013.

Kirsten Ellis contacted Surrey Highways in August to press for increased road safety measures, because she was so concerned about her 11-year-old son crossing the road from the station to take the 991 bus to Liphook’s Bohunt School when he started the autumn term.

“The bus stop is located directly opposite the railway station, next to a shop called Sew Potty and there is no crossing,” she said.

“This section of the road has no pavement for pedestrians.

“The safest place to make the crossing is from the Three Counties taxi stand, and this involves darting out across the road, while keeping an eye on the exit turnings from the station and from the pub opposite.

“The only pedestrian crossing is about 150 metres down the road towards Haslemere, which leads to a pavement.

“However it would be highly unsafe to use this crossing to reach the bus stop as it would involve walking along a busy road with no pavement.

“I am trying to teach my son how to cross using the ‘pot-luck’ approach from the Three Counties stand.

“I would like to request that the council assess the safety of this stop being aware that children and the elderly and perhaps disabled need to use it. Can a crossing be placed at this stop?

“Surely there should be some clear signal to drivers that children need to make a safe crossing here.

“It really would be appalling if anyone were hurt or killed at this spot.

“To me it looks like an accident waiting to happen.”

Surrey Highways responded it was not possible to provide a pedestrian crossing at that point due to the location of the bus stop being opposite the entry and exit to the station.

Officers promised to highlight the difficulties faced by bus users having to cross a busy road with Network Rail, which is currently investigating a complete redesign of the station forecourt, in the hope the new scheme could improve road safety.

If a safer crossing cannot be achieved within the forecourt redesign, Surrey Highways said it would look into relocating the bus stop to a more easily accessible location. In the interim, county road bosses have promised to erect ‘slow-down’ signs on the road either side of the station entrance to improve road safety.

But Mrs Ellis has objected claiming that the proposed signage is “inadequate”.

She told The Herald: “Drivers simply pay little or no attention It does not ensure the safety of children or the elderly.

“In terms of signage, it really needs to be something specific like ‘20’ or ‘children crossing’ that will alert drivers to the fact that children and the elderly are crossing here with little or no visibility.

“Every day my son crosses here, potentially risking his life because there is no footpath on the other side of the road and there is no crossing from the side of the road that has a footpath.

“It’s ridiculously hazardous. In the winter, it’s dark and even more dangerous when traffic density and road conditions are at their worst. It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

County councillor Nikki Barton said: “I fully agree with Mrs Ellis and other concerned residents that a safer crossing is needed to get to this key bus stop.

“I have been working with Surrey County Council and South West Trains to ensure highways improvements to achieve this are built into the proposals for a reconfigured station forecourt.

“If for any reason the forecourt alterations are not realised, I will continue to work with the Surrey highways team to provide a safer bus stop opposite the station.”