Work to improve five pedestrian crossings in Royal Wootton Bassett starts in August

Wiltshire Council will be starting work to improve five pedestrian crossings on the A3102 in Royal Wootton Bassett in the summer.

The work, which begins on 8 August and lasts for four months, will see upgrades to the pedestrian crossings on the High Street at Street Bartholomew Church; at the post office near Station Road; at the Apsley House shopping arcade; at Lime Kiln; and at Longleaze.

The current crossings are nearing the end of their useful lives and will be upgraded to bring them up to modern safety standards, while the Lime Kiln facility will also be changed to a toucan crossing. The improvements will see the crossings widened to make them safer for pedestrians, and the vehicle stop lines will moved back to improve both safety and visibility for HGVs as they approach the crossings.

The improvements will also help traffic flows, particularly at busy times, as the crossings will be linked and can, if necessary, be synchronised to avoid the build-up of traffic.

The improvements have been funded with £500,000 from the Department for Transport's (DfT) Integrated Transport and Highway Maintenance fund, which the council was awarded last year.

For the duration of the works, traffic management will be in place on the A3102; however, disruption will be kept to a minimum as council contractors work on each crossing in turn.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport, said: These five crossings in Royal Wootton Bassett are nearing the end of their lives, and these improvements will bring them up to modern standards and improve safety for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists.

Ensuring people are safe is one of our business plan missions, and so to improve the safety at these crossings, we've listened to feedback from the town council and the community, particularly at Lime Kiln, which will be upgraded to a toucan crossing.

We apologise for any delays caused by these essential works, but we aim to keep disruption to a minimum by working on each crossing in turn, and we look forward to all five new crossings being operational later this year.

Away from this scheme, we're also investing a further £500,000 this financial year into upgrading and maintaining our traffic signals throughout the county.