Sometime last year, the building work at the corner of Wood Street and Damside Street, on the approach to Lancaster Bus Station, reached a point where it became necessary to erect scaffolding. The scaffolding effectively blocked one side of the zebra crossings on both streets, which between them formed the recommended safe walking route between the bus station and the city centre.
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| The blocked crossing on Damside Street |
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| and Wood Street |
When it was obvious that the works were long-term and with the danger and inconvenience to users of the bus station obvious, the Bus Users' Group tried to get something done.
But our efforts were thwatred by council bureaucracy and buck-passing! Pedestrian crossings are normally the responsibility of the Highway Authority, which in Lancaster is Lancashire County Council. The county, however, claimed that because building developement was the cause of the blockage it was a planning matter - and planning is a City Council responsibility. When we approached the City council, they told us they had no responsibility for crossings and referred us back to the County!
Fortunately, the Bus Users' Group has within its ranks a number of city and county councillors who were able to take up the case for us "from the inside". Initially, they too appeared to have difficulty in establishing where responsibility lay, and in the meantime the contractors working on the building took some rather unofficial action themselves...
A series of yellow dots appeared on the road at the place where most people cross the road.
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| Join the dots for the alternative route. |
And safety advice appeared in the latest hi-tech format on Damside Street...
But eventually, after much to-ing and fro-ing and the intervention of County Councillor Lizzi Collinge, in January a temporary light-controlled crossing appeared and restored a safe walking route across Damside Street.
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| Job done! Or so we thought |
Now You See It.......
The new crossing was much appreciated by users, especially the elderley and those accompanying young children or with mobility problems. After a few days the timings were even re-set so that the lights changed to red almost instantly when the pedestrian button was pressed! All was well - until sometime last week the whole crossing just disappeared!
Lizzi, being our best contact with the councils, kindly agreed to take up the matter again, and guess what?....The County Council told her it was a Planning Matter and therefore the responsibility of the City Council. And, of course, the City Council said that as it was a highways matter, it was the County Council's problem!
Neither Lizzi nor the Bus Users' Group is giving in..and with the need for the crossing still evident we are doing our best to solve the mystery!
