Village near Buckingham gets new pedestrian crossing combating recent traffic increase

A new puffin crossing has been opened in a village near Buckingham making the area safer for pedestrians.

Yesterday (8 February), a new crossing was opened in Westbury on the A422. It covers the A422 just to the west of the crossroads at Main Street and Biddlesden Road. Children from Beachborough School in Westbury donned handmade puffin masks to celebrate its completion.

Bucks Council has described Westbury as a village of two halves; the busy A422 linking Buckingham and Brackley runs through the centre with the playpark, sports field, village hall, community shop and café on the south side of the road, and residential properties on the north.

Costing £233,000 the project was funded by HS2 and completed by Buckinghamshire Council staff.

Councillor Steven Broadbent, Beachborough School headteacher Simone Mitchell and Cathy Knott from Westbury Parish Council attended the opening.

Councillor Broadbent said: “We are delighted to have been able to bring about this improvement for local residents and especially children who use the park, playing field and who attend local schools. The A422 is a very busy road which has also been made worse by an increase in HGV traffic as it is a lorry route for HS2 construction vehicles working on the Westbury Viaduct. This scheme provides residents with a safe crossing point between the north and south areas of the village, and we know the changes will be much welcomed by everyone in the local community.

“The disruption caused by the ongoing HS2 works on our doorstep continues to be a real headache for many local residents but with access to this funding, we are at least able to address a range of road safety concerns that might otherwise not have been possible so we can continue in our efforts to improve road safety for everyone across the county.”

Puffin crossings are ‘smart’ crossings where sensors installed on top of the lights trigger changes, rather than timers. Pedestrians can press a button when they want to cross and the sensors detect when they are safely across before changing to green for motorists.