East Kilbride locals petition for pedestrian crossing on 'dangerous' road
Kris McFayden says it's 'only a matter of time' until someone is seriously injured on Westwood Hill.
Locals in East Kilbride are urging South Lanarkshire Council to install a pedestrian crossing on Westwood Hill "before someone is seriously hurt".
A petition with more than 100 signatures has been lodged to the local authority after residents claimed the traffic has increased substantially over the last 20 years.
South Lanarkshire Council is promising to look at the petition at an upcoming meeting to see what can be done.
'Dangerous'
Westwood Hill is described as a "major artery" for commuters, and Kris McFayden who is spearheading the campaign, says the 30mph speed limit is regularly abused.
According to Kris, this combined with a blind summit makes the road dangerous for the elderly, dogwalkers, kids, and for people with disabilities, who often "put their lives at risk" when attempting to cross.
Mr McFayden also says the road is home to a school and a number of bus stops, making it a key priority for traffic calming measures.
He told Clyde News: "It's only a question of time before someone gets killed.
"All of my neighbours and I have seen umpteen near misses. We've been involved in near misses, too.
"This road hasn't changed since the 1960s but the traffic has - drivers speed and it's a major artery for commuters in the middle of a highly-populated residential area.
"There's a huge amount of anger and frustration in the local area about this.
"You step out onto the road to cross, and someone comes flying over the hill. To me, that's unacceptable."
'We shouldn't wait for a life-changing injury'
Kris added: "The council should be proactive about this.
"We shouldn't be waiting until someone is killed or gets a life-changing injury before we decide to do something.
"I feel that South Lanarkshire Council is being culpably negligent, because through inaction, they're placing all of our lives at danger.
"I understand that there is a budget and that money is tight across all local authorities, but why not do it incrementally?"
It is understood that the number of hospitalisations and injuries as a result of the road does not meet the minimum threshold for the introduction of traffic calming measures.
'Aware of concerns'
South Lanarkshire Council's Head of Roads, Colin Park, said: “We can confirm that the petition has reached the threshold for it to be heard at the next meeting of the Petitions Committee.
“A paper will be presented to the committee with a response to the petition.
“However, we have previously been made aware of concerns raised for this section of road, and we monitor and review our roads to ensure appropriate measures are in place.
"This is undertaken within a framework of set criteria to help ensure the same standards are applied in different areas.”
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