Near miss sparks call for Crescent Link lights

Margaret Bradley from Blackthorn Manor, just off Crescent Link, had gone for a walk with her seven-year-old daughter and had been crossing to the traffic island after a car stopped to let them pass when another car come upon them via the second lane and almost hit them.

“I was fairly shaken by it to begin with, then I was angry,” Margaret said, “This was last Thursday, at around 12pm. We were out for a walk as we had been doing routinely in lockdown but the traffic is back up to normal levels now. The traffic was tailed right back and a car stopped to let us pass and we got into the middle of the lanes and the car that nearly hit us was second in the traffic line. The car in front started moving off and we are actually in front of her and then she starts moving.”

Margaret managed to get her daughter and herself to the relative safety of the island with seconds to spare.

“The girl was driving a black Vauxhall and put the window down to have a go at me. She said, ‘Did you not see the car?’ and I said to her, ‘Did you not see us?’ My daughter was wearing a hi-vis vest and had a skateboarding helmet on. This woman also had a male passenger in the car. I’m a driver myself and no matter what, you look out for pedestrians.”

Margaret said residents are very concerned about road safety at Crescent Link, with children living in the area having to dodge and negotiate heavy traffic to get to their school buses. “It’s terrible, it really is terrible,” she said.

On arriving home, Margaret contacted SDLP Colr. Sean Mooney who has raised the matter with Roads Service.

“I think it needs to be addressed, there has to be something for pedestrians,” she said. “Christmas and Easter it’s gridlock up there, they have to look at doing something and crossings would need to have lights. There’s a crossing there at the retail park by Marks & Spencers but drivers often don’t even look.”

Similar concerns have also been raised recently by Alliance Councillor Philip McKinney.

The Department for Infrastructure has told the Journal: “The Department is aware of the concerns of residents living in the vicinity of Crescent Link Retail Park and the request for consideration of a pedestrian crossing at the retail roundabout.

“In order to carry out a full and proper assessment on whether a controlled crossing can be justified, pedestrian and vehicular traffic volumes need to be established. The Department is committed to carrying out a survey in September when traffic volumes are likely to be closer to normal levels.”