Springfield Road crossing fiasco - inquiry call

Zebra crossing works near Tesco in Springfield Road, Chelmsford have been dragging on for months. Now the local Lib Dems have called for an Inquiry into the long-running fiasco.

Pedestrians in the area have suffered inconvenience and had to exercise extra caution for months now, thanks to a whole series of blunders by the Tory-controlled Council.

• First came the decision, without consultation, that the zebra crossing at Tesco was to be replaced by a traffic biased signal-controlled 'puffin'.

• Roadworks then started, without the required public notice.

• Next a legal stop halted the works… once the mistake had been realised.

• Then…a period of limbo through the requisite objection period.

• This was followed by indecision within the Council, with a

press report announcing the abandonment of the original proposal.

• Further time passed as the Cabinet Member and Officers came to the realisation that they needed to organise a revised zebra layout; this required the undoing of much of the work originally undertaken.

• And now, months from the start of this dreadful saga, a new works order has been issued [hopefully with proper notice] and we may see a zebra returning!

The local County Councillor, Lib Dem Keith Francis, said, "The whole exercise has been a complete shambles and unnecessary waste of Council Tax money, never mind the added risk to countless pedestrians left to their own devices.

"I have asked the Council's Highways and Transportation Director to carry out an internal inquiry and to urgently review procedures and policy to avoid such bureaucratic fiascos being repeated. In my view, pedestrian interests have been increasingly compromised in recent years and now need to be treated with more respect and priority, especially in our built-up areas."