Traffic delay at Little Common

Two puffin crossings are being installed on Cooden Sea Road - one just after the roundabout and the other almost opposite St Martha's church and the turn off to Birkdale.

A spokesman for the County Council said, "We understand it's frustrating however this work was needed to improve road safety by resurfacing the road and adding anti-skid surfacing. To carry this out, the road had to be closed and a diversion route put in place, which was likely to delay traffic. To minimise this disruption, we scheduled the work for a Sunday and our team worked into the evening to get the major work done in one day. We also removed the zebra crossing at the same time and made sure the new puffin crossing was ready on Monday morning, when the road was reopened, so a crossing was continually available.

"This work was part of the Little Common junction improvement project to make junction improvements on Cooden Sea Road in Little Common. This will include making alterations at the junction with Church Hill Avenue, installing a new Puffin Crossing and upgrading an existing Zebra crossing with a Puffin crossing. These improvements will improve road safety for pedestrians and motorists and will be of benefit to the local community."

The changes come as a result of campaigning by Councillor Brian Gadd who commented: "There are a lot of elderly people trying to get across the road and they can't do it sometimes - they take their life in their hands. I think two puffin crossings will be fine - it is a bit iffy at the moment, but it won't be for long.

"What we want to do is make it safer and that's what all this is about."