College bosses say they have ‘major concerns’ for the safety of students crossing a busy road which splits their campus in two.
They are calling for a 20mph limit, speed humps and a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights on the B5067 at Walford. They claim teenage students, some with disabilities, are put in danger daily.
The comments from Walford and North Shropshire College are among countywide calls for a crackdown on speeding as part of a major review by Shropshire Council.
Around 600 students attend the Walford campus, studying agriculture, animal care, floristry, engineering, motor mechanics and other subjects.
Most are aged 14 to 18 and many of them cross the Shrewsbury-Baschurch road at least four times a day to move between classrooms and areas such as horse stables.
The speed limit was cut from 60mph to 30mph a year ago. But there is restricted visibility, and officials want to see a lower speed limit and traffic calming measures to reduce the risk of youngsters having to dodge cars and lorries coming round the bends.
In their response to Shropshire Council, they describe it as a ‘very high risk situation’ and warn that college and council could face legal action for breaching health and safety laws.
They say EU Work Place Regulations require them to segregate pedestrians from vehicles – and this cannot be done without the council’s help. Pat McGuinness, the college’s health and safety adviser, said: “The highways department have been very supportive but we need to move further.
“There are marvellous facilities here at Walford and we are a centre of excellence. We spend a lot of time during the induction of students telling them how to keep safe and try to supervise them as much as possible.
“But the problem is that although we can manage the site on either side of the road, we cannot manage the road itself. I honestly believe that if drivers using this as a through-route were fully aware of the number of young people crossing, they would slow down.” He said the aim was to reduce risk before accidents happened, rather than taking action after students were injured.
By Peter Johnson
