Parents with children at Claremont Fan Court School in Esher have been in touch with me to express their concerns about road safety on Portsmouth Road as pupils walk to and from school. Therefore, I arranged a site visit alongside Cllr Steve Bax and Surrey County Council officer, Duncan Knox, to see what road safety improvements could be implemented to help make journeys to and from school safer.
We discussed various options for improving road safety, such as better signage or a speed reduction. Surrey County Council concluded better signage would be the best course of action as existing speeds were at the current 40mph limit, so a reduction would not meet policy or be supported by the police.
I am pleased to confirm new school flashing “wig wag” signs underneath the existing school warning signs will be implemented. These will flash during term time (not during school holidays) to alert motorist that school children are crossing the road. These will be implemented during the school summer holidays, if not sooner. Thank you to Cllr Steve Bax for securing the funds needed for the signs.
This is a good step forward to improve road safety outside Claremont. If there is anything else you would like to see, or if you would like to discuss road safety improvements outside another school in our area, please email me on dominic.raab.mp@parliament.uk.
Our Plan for Esher and Walton constituency includes making journeys to and from school safer for local school children. You can read more here.