Crossing at junction of Merrywood Rd and North St

By Kaptain_Von at 13:08 on 19/02/10

Re-post

I have been wondering if anyone else has any opinions on this crossing? I use it on average twice a day and have noticed that there appears to be a problem with motorists failing to stop, even when pedestrians are actually on the crossing. This morning three vehicles zoomed through as I was waiting to cross and in the past I have witnessed a number of near misses as vehicles have driven through as people are crossing. In fact, last year I myself came within 12" of being flattened as a driver, obviously not paying attention drove through the crossing as a young woman pushing a baby buggy and myself were crossing.

To those of you who drive, is the crossing particularly difficult to see or are the near misses etc just down to idiots who obviously don't know what they should do at a crossing?

To those of you who use this crossing, have you noticed similar problems? Should this crossing be turned into a light controlled one to make it safer or do you feel that will have no effect?

By Kaptain_Von at 13:08 on 19/02/10
Report
Hi mate- When you are coming at this crossing off of the mini-roundabout in the car, it's a very short distance from actually getting round that corner to getting to the crossing. The other thing is that the pavements are very narrow there so sometimes hard for a driver to judge if someone is crossing or just walking past.

I have once had to put my brakes on sharpish coming across the roundabout and to the corssing because someone stepped out quickly. Cars coming the other way- towards the centre- should have no excuses.

Moving it further up the road or to the other side of Merrywood road may have an effect maybe.

By Mike_Ford at 14:00 on 19/02/10
Report
Hi both, Mike is spot on. I think it's just one of those crossings that is poorly-sited - it's too close to the roundabout.It's busy there and not always easy to see whether pedestrians are going to use the crossing or just walk past. As a driver, I've had a close call there once and many times I've seen other drivers barely stop in time.As a pedestrian, I take special care using that crossing, knowing what a poor view drivers often have of it.
It's similar to the one on St John's Lane just by the roundabout at the junction with St Luke's and Ravenhill. That's too close to a busy junction as well.
Lights would probably help but wouldn't be as convenient for pedestrians. Moving the crossing up a bit might be the better option.

By Hannah2009 at 18:44 on 19/02/10
Report
Sorry for not replying for a few days...I have been observing crossings.

In the interests of scientific research I have kept an eye on the crossing at various times of day to see just how many vehicles do not stop.

Over the course of about an hours worth of observing over four days, thirteen vehicles failed to stop when people were waiting to cross and four continued through the crossing when pedestrians were already on the crossing. Of the thirteen, five were coming from the roundabout and eight from North Street (ie having no excuse not to see the crossing). Of the four, three came from North Street and one from the roundabout.

Now, it may be that as Mike says, because the pavements are narrow and it is difficult to tell if a pedestrian is going to cross or not. Some pedestrians seem to wander around in a zombified state I will admit.

Perhaps with the possible plans to build new houses/shops on the Gala Bingo Hall site now is the time to put forward a suggestion to council transport representatives that the crossing is moved to a site further up the road and the plans include a wider pavement area?

Finally if the person driving a red car whilst trying to drink a cup of coffee who drove through the crossing this morning should be reading this...congratulations, you nearly added two school kids to the list of road accident statistics.

By Kaptain_Von at 12:04 on 24/02/10
Report
I'm surprised that so many of the cars that failed to stop were coming down North Street!
Having crossings so close to a roundabout is usually a bad idea, in my opinion. It would be safer if it were moved further up the road.
And I would imagine that now might be a good time to approach the council about it. Mark Bradshaw (his username on this site is Bedminster06) was supposed to be meeting with the developers for the Gala Bingo site this week, I think.

By Hannah2009 at 09:58 on 26/02/10
Report
I find one of the reasons this crossing is so dangerous is that the carpet shop guy will park outside his shop, half on the pavement!. This makes it bad when you come from the roundabout to go up north street. Drivers are ontop of the crossing before they know it.

By sunwindrain at 16:37 on 27/02/10
Report
An update on this. I have emailed Mark Bradshaw regarding the crossing and a few other items (Eg lack of grit bins in Bedminster/grit bins not being filled, vandalism to the area around Gaywood House and the need for better lighting at South Street Park).

I await his reply and hopefully it will lead to improvements that will be of benefit to the residents of Bedminster and surrounding areas.

By Kaptain_Von at 13:19 on 03/03/10
Report
Thanks for the update, Kaptain; it will be interesting to see if anything can be done to make this crossing safer - and to address the other problems you mention.

By Hannah2009 at 14:44 on 03/03/10
Report