It’s here in black and white

Councillor Simon Tweed officially opened the new crossing on Outgang Lane with the help of children from Laughton Junior and Infant School.

The opening follows more than 30 years of campaigning by residents to make Station Road and Outgang Lane safer.

Graham Bell, chairman of the local TARA who has fought for many years to make the road safer, said: “We have campaigned long and hard for traffic lights or a zebra crossing, anything to make this a safer road.”

“We have had accidents and even tragic loses, a young boy called Carl Hughes lost his life in this road and we hope this zebra crossing will help prevent anything like that from happening again.”

“We will all continue the campaign to make the roads safer and this proves that to get something you never give up”.

Coun Tweed said the zebra crossing was the first in several road safety measures to introduced on the stretch of road.

He said: “I am really pleased to see it finally installed and know that local people from Laughton Common will benefit from using it.”

“During the opening I was talking to one parent who said that she takes her child everyday to school and sometimes in the past felt that frightened to cross the road as some drivers come down the road at really excessive speeds.”

“I would also like to thank local residents who have played a big part in helping councillors to campaign for this over the last few years and to Andrew Lee from Rotherham Council who as worked very half on our behalf to help us achieve our goal.”

“I am also pleased to announce that very shortly work will start on the construction of the splitter island at the mini roundabout which will again slow speeding motorists down and prevent them from going the wrong way around the roundabout which happens on many occasions and as been a concern of local residents for the past couple of years.”