New pedestrian crossing to go ahead near Crawley's Gatwick School

A pedestrian crossing is to be built near the Gatwick School, in Crawley.
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The installation of a puffin crossing on Gatwick Road was approved by Joy Dennis, West Sussex County Council’s cabinet member for highways, and is expected to be in place by the end of the summer holiday.

The work forms part of the council’s successful bid for Active Travel Fund money from the Department for Transport.

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As well as the crossing, it will include resurfacing work on the road, guided bus lane, lay-bys and junction mouths in the immediate area.

Proposed location for the new pedestrian crossingProposed location for the new pedestrian crossing
Proposed location for the new pedestrian crossing

Some £200,000 of Section 106 money to help pay for the work has also been agreed in principle by the Department of Education – but until it comes through, the scheme will be underwritten by the Highways & Transport Delivery Programme budget.

A consultation was held in March and the council received six objections from the public, as well as others from various groups including Sustrans and the Local Cycle Forum.

The main concern centred around the need for cyclists to get off their bikes before the cycle path met the crossing.

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Aware this was not helping the cycling infrastructure in the area, a council spokesman said officers were working with designers to come up with a segregated section of cycleway which would solve the problem.

The proposal was supported prior to consultation by both county councillors Brenda Burgess (Three Bridges) and Natalie Pudaloff (Northgate and West Green). Sussex Police was consulted and expressed no concerns or objections to the proposal.

The hope is it will be ready for construction sometime in the 23/24 financial year.