New road safety steps urged near nursery

Eighty-four people have signed the petition arguing that children’s safety is currently compromised by vehicles parking on the pavement around Milestone Nursery in Verdant Way.

At a meeting of the authority’s north east community assembly, to be held at Shirecliffe Community Centre at 6pm tonight, members will be advised to consider putting in a “Children Keep Clear” marking outside the nursery, and also extending existing double yellow lines, at a cost of £3,585.

Nel Corker, from Sheffield Council’s traffic regulations group, says in the report set to go before tonight’s meeting: “Verdant Way and Hatfield House Lane have a relatively good road accident record. However, pedestrian vulnerability is high as the children attending the nursery are of pre-school age.

“It is recognised that there may be a problem with vehicles parking on the footways at Verdant Way. This causes difficulty and puts pedestrians at greater risk if the footway is obstructed and they need to walk onto the road.”

Other options to be considered by members of the assembly include closing Verdant Way altogether, at a cost of up to £30,000, or making it a one way street, which would cost up to £13,000.

Cheaper options include putting in double yellow lines on the full length of the street, at a cost of £4,005 or else spending up to £1,605 on installing bollards around the junction of Verdant Way and Hatfield House Lane.

Petitioners had told Sheffield Council that there had been “more than one incident where a young child or pedestrian could have been seriously injured, though vehicles parking on the pavement rather than finding a safe, legal place to park.”

No accidents have been recorded on Verdant Way in the last five years.