Keswick is getting a pedestrian crossing costing £130,000 which an outspoken town councillor has said is in the wrong place and “completely bonkers”.
The new puffin crossing – designed to help guests at the Premier Inn – is pencilled in for a spot between the junction to Coleridge Court and the Lakes and Dales Co-op on the A5271 Main Street.
But some town councillors fear massive traffic jams at the mini-roundabout where Main Street meets Tithebarn Street which backs up with huge congestion in summer.
The crossing has been requested of the hotel developers by highways bosses at Cumbria County Council.
Agents involved have now lodged plans for the crossing with the Lake District National Park Authority and are pushing ahead with the location.
Keswick Town Council has long argued to those involved that they believe the location is wrong and the crossing should go further up the road – away from the roundabout and closer to the hotel.
The town council has now called for the location to be “urgently” reconsidered and mayor Cllr Steve Harwood said the proposed location would not help hotel guests “in any way”.
Cllr Tony Lywood added: “We don’t want it, Premier Inn don’t want to build it, and all it will cause is more congestion. It makes no sense and it is going to cost £130,000 to create a problem that we didn’t need in the first place.
“The county council has refused to vary its condition and has stuck to its guns – stupidly and ridiculously, in my view. I can’t for the life of me understand why they have been so stubborn and so ridiculously entrenched to produce something that nobody wants. It’s utterly and completely bonkers.”
Cllr Allan Daniels said too that the location was “bonkers” and said he had been told years ago by highways officials that the suggestion of putting a crossing near the Co-op was “stupid”.
“They obviously don’t believe their own policy now – it’s insane,” said Cllr Daniels.
The crossing location does have some support. Nearby resident Leonard Will has studied the dangers of pedestrians face trying to cross at the mini roundabout.
He believes the town council’s opposition is a “mistake” and has asked national park planners “not to give too much weight” to its view.
Mr Will counted 140 people an hour wanting to cross. He said delays caused by temporary traffic lights and lane closures did not discount a properly-timed crossing. “There are two other such crossings in Keswick, at Bank Street and Victoria Street, and these do not cause congestion.”
Cllr Louise Dunn said crossing the road was a “nightmare” and “hideous” and that the problem was too many cars, with the highways department needing to give more thought to schemes to help pedestrians.
While not agreeing it was the correct location, Cllr Dunn said: “Just because there’s loads of cars that cause more congestion, it just again gives victory to the car driver over the pedestrian.”
