URGENT work is underway to improve a zebra crossing where a woman was knocked down by a car and seriously hurt.
Temporary traffic lights with a button-operated crossing have been installed at Windermere Drive in Warndon outside Sainsbury's Blackpole in Worcester as the improvement work begins.
A woman in her 40s was knocked down at the crossing by a Nissan Figaro at the zebra crossing near Sainsbury’s Blackpole on Wednesday, February 7 at about 5.20pm.
Cllr Jill Desayrah, a Labour city councillor who lobbied for the crossing a year before the woman was knocked down, hopes it is a sign a pelican crossing will be installed there.
Cllr Desayrah was among a group of Labour councillors who handed a 200-signature petition calling for a pelican crossing to Highways bosses at County Hall.
However, Mike Rouse, cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said improvements at the zebra crossing would have been ordered in any case and there was no guarantee a pelican crossing would form part of the scheme.
Cllr Rouse, a Conservative, said: "We must remember that a woman was very sadly seriously injured as a result of a crash at this crossing point, and we send our best wishes to her as she continues her recovery journey.
"This was a trauma that should not be repeated, and as a county council we take incidents like these very seriously.
"It does not take a petition for us to act in these circumstances; we do it because it's the right thing to do, and improves safety so we can avoid the same thing happening again."
The short-term work will involve making the existing crossing more conspicuous, including upgrading of the existing Belisha beacons with brighter LED halos.
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The guard railings will also be altered. Workers on site said 23 metal panels would be removed and six would remain.
Cllr Rouse added: "In addition to the interim improvements, we are conducting an in-depth study to incorporate wider issues along Windermere Drive between the Blackpole traffic roundabout and the Sainsbury’s supermarket mini-roundabout. The work undertaken will consider the replacement of the existing zebra crossing with a pelican crossing facility.
"It's important to note that this means a pelican crossing is not yet guaranteed, as it will be subject to the outcome of the in-depth study.
"This is important because the last thing we would want to do is put something in place that could actually make the situation worse, so we need the results of a proper study first."
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