Close the road call

PART of a narrow, historic road in Portishead should be closed to traffic to improve road safety for schoolchildren and other pedestrians, and to encourage youngsters to walk to school, a councillor is suggesting.Earlier this month, Julie Batterham, of Greenfield Park, told the North Somerset Times that inconsiderate parents were putting youngsters' lives at risk and damaging property in her cul-de-sac.The mother-of-two appealed to mums and dads taking their children to, and picking up them up from, Gordano School, to use Wetlands Lane instead.But residents of Wetlands Lane have written to Cllr Jon Gething to say they already have enough problems of their own during the school run.So he is calling for the upper section of St Mary's Road, as far as Wetlands Lane, to be closed to traffic to keep schoolchildren safe and encourage them to get some exercise too.Cllr Gething said: "People living in Wetlands Lane sympathise with Mrs Batterham, but they are concerned that any restrictions on parking in Greenfield Park would exacerbate their difficulties."Residents of St Mary's Road also experience similar problems."My chief concern is the safety of pedestrians, especially children, using both sections of St Mary's Road, so my personal view is that the upper section of it should be closed."It would incovenience a few drivers who use it as a shortcut to Gordano and the roads to Clevedon and Naish Hill, but would improve road safety for many pedestrians, and hopefully encourage more parents to let their children walk to school."North Somerset Council's executive member for strategic planning and transport, John Crockford-Hawley, said: "I shall look at the problems the residents of Greenfield Park, Wetlands Lane and St Mary's Road are experiencing and at the potential solution Cllr Gething has suggested."Walking and cycling to school should be the norm.