Finally, puffin crossing installed on busy road

A NEW pedestrian crossing on a busy road in Henley has been officially opened. The puffin crossing in Marlow Road is about 25m from the Swiss Farm residential and holiday park, where residents have campaigning for road safety measures for years. Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority, paid most of the GBP26,000 cost with GBP3,423 coming from Henley Town Council.

The crossing was unveiled on Tuesday by David and Theresa Palmer, who live at Swiss Farm, and Henley's representative on the county council, Stefan Gawrysiak. Mrs Palmer said: "We started campaigning 22 years ago. We got Boris Johnson down here because he was our MP then.

"We wanted a speed camera to slow down the traffic but were told we weren't allowed one. The traffic then was nothing like as bad as it is now. "We wanted to be able to cross the road safely because, let's face it, during the summer, when there's all children here, they think they've come to the country.

Little do they know that they're right by the 'M4'. "It's quite frightening when you're walking along here, especially if drivers start to overtake and you think it only takes someone coming the other way..." Mr Palmer added: "We have had various things in between and they've all been kicked into the long grass.

Well done, Stefan, because he actually got it done. "It is a fast road. Drivers get to the rugby club and then they're foot down and away.

They do 50mph easily down here. It's absolutely crazy. "This is not just for us, it is for people on the campsite, too."

Mr Palmer said work started on the crossing in April but the traffic lights were only installed at the end of September. Someone apparently tired of waiting had made a roadside notice reading: "Grand opening soon... maybe Christmas this year?" "We have waited for so long but now we have actually achieved something," said Mr Palmer.

Councillor Gawrysiak said: "Even during the winter, there were residents from Swiss Farm who would have to wait 10 minutes to cross the road because the stream of traffic is continuous. "It has taken three years for the council to actually install it because there are real capacity issues at the council -- there aren't enough people. The crossing had a false start last week, when it was finally completed but pedestrians found the lights didn't work.

Cllr Gawrysiak explained: "They found that an electronic box wasn't working but then they came and fixed it and that was it. The lights should be bomb-proof from now on, we hope. "The important thing is that it's here and it's going to be here for the next 30 years, so that's great news.

I hope it will slow drivers down and give people the opportunity to cross the road." He said another crossing had been installed in Gravel Hill, where parents and children going to Badgemore Primary School in Hop Gardens used to have to wait up to 10 minutes to cross the road in rush hour as it was so busy. Cllr Gawrysiak added: "These crossings are just invaluable and we are designing another one for Bell Street for Rupert House School but that's probably a year off."

A puffin crossing is distinct from the older pelican crossings in that the lights signalling to the pedestrians are on the same side of the road rather than across the road.

They have two sensors on top of the traffic lights which detect if pedestrians are crossing slowly and can hold the red light longer if necessary.