Major Baldock road set for three-week closure for new pedestrian crossing
Baldock's Station Road will be closed for three weeks while Ringway carry out pedestrian safety work. Picture: Genette Black - Credit: Archant
A section of Station Road in Baldock is set to close tomorrow for up to three weeks to improve pedestrian safety – with a new zebra crossing to be built.
The closure will be in place 24/7 so maintenance contractors Ringway - working on behalf of Herts County Council - can carry out a series of works near to the railway station.
They include one zebra crossing and three crossing points with dropped kerbs, as well as kerb replacement, realignment of footways, footway resurfacing and carriageway resurfacing.
The works will be taking place each day - weather permitting - from 7am to 11pm, which should go some way in reducing the overall construction time down from approximately six weeks to three weeks.
Access to surrounding properties will be maintained throughout the project, which could continue until Sunday, September 1.
County and district councillor Michael Muir told the Comet: "We're installing a zebra crossing because there's a lot of traffic there and people just walk between the cars.
"It's being paid for from the safety budget, and starting the work has been about two years of waiting for the project to come to the front of the queue. The work will make the road a whole lot safer for people to cross."
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There is currently one pelican crossing where Station Road meets the junctions for Royston Road, Clothall Road and Whitehorse Street. There is also an island crossing close to North Road.
Mr Muir explained the three-week closure is a precaution in case there are delays for things like bad weather, but the work itself will not take as long as three weeks.
The development comes after a petition to make the road safer for pedestrians was submitted to Herts County Council.
Councillor Phil Bibby, cabinet member for highways at HCC, said: "We want to make our road network safer for pedestrians and make it easier for people to get around on foot.
"We know these improvement works will be disruptive, which is why we've scheduled them for the school holidays when traffic is lighter.
"I'd like to apologise in advance for the inconvenience and I hope people will bear with us while we make these important safety improvements."
Details of closures and diversions routes can be found at hertfordshire.gov.uk/roadworks.
