Sheffield councillors Brian Holmshaw and Ruth Mersereau joined with residents in the Park Hill and Norfolk Park area of the city to protest at the Bernard Street/Duke Street/Talbot Street junction on Saturday 20 April. It was organised by the Safe Streets Now and included placards, banners, and a visit from a resident dressed as a zebra, to show the need for safe crossings.
Green Party Councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale Brian Holmshaw, who lives nearby said:
“ Sheffield has the highest child pedestrian killed and seriously injured rate of all core UK cities by a significant margin. It is one of the most dangerous places in the country to be a child pedestrian.
I live locally and see young people and families crossing here all the time – going to the nursery at Park Hill, heading up to Manor Lodge Primary and the nursery there, to the bus stop to go elsewhere or being dropped off while a parent goes to work. They are taking their lives into their own hands.
We urgently need a controlled crossing, with pedestrian lights, both here, and at several other junctions in the city. I shall ask the council questions why this has not been put in place.”
Green Party candidate Ruth Flagg-Abbey, who is standing in the Manor Castle ward where the Bernard Street/Talbot Street junction is located said:
“It is great that we’re getting such good support from car drivers coming past today. They drive past, see our signs and show their support. They recognise that it’s not a them and us situation, this is us together, making roads safer for all.
We need more traffic cameras at junctions like this one, to catch the dangerous and unsafe drivers who risk their and other people’s lives when they run red lights.
We need more “School Streets” that restrict access near our schools at important times of the day. This will allow pupils and families to walk and cycle safely each day to and from school.
We need better monitoring of bad parking where vehicles just screech to a halt next to pedestrians or pull in and block junctions. I support an increase in parking enforcement officers to improve our quality of living.”
Green Party members also supported a second protest in Walkley where Upperthorpe resident Cllr Bernard Little spoke on the theme of road safety.
