A Simple Crossing

I spent two hours this evening with a remarkable lady called Lynn. Both sight and hearing impaired, she goes about her life with a passion that few can equal. Her problem - and the reason she wanted to see me - is simple. She just can't cross the Sandhurst Road in Sherwood.

Without a crossing, if one car stops, there's no guarantee when she's halfway across, that the next one will. And on this long, straight road between the Pembury Road and the Industrial Estate, the cars rarely slow down, and until the Government provide the funding for the dualing of the A21 at Castle Hill, the lorries will continue to divert and rat run down Sandhurst to the industrial estate rather than risk the Castle Hill gridlock.

And all that's needed is a controlled crossing on Sandhurst Road. A safe place to cross a busy road - for the lady I saw tonight, for her other visually impaired friends; for the children from Sherwood Park Primary School; for the ladies living in St Philip's Court; for the parishioners at St Philip's Church. The list goes on.

So the story needs to be told - of how a simple crossing would give so many people a sense of safety, a sense of freedom.