ACTION must be taken before a child is killed or seriously hurt on a dangerous Bournemouth road, councillors and residents have warned.

Councillors Dennis Gritt and Beryl Baxter are calling for a 20mph speed limit to be introduced on Poole Lane following several reported “near misses” over the years.

The busy road, which stretches across West Howe, has four primary schools nearby – Kinson, Christ the King, Elm Academy and Heathlands – as well as the secondary school Oak Academy.

Cllr Gritt said: “I spoke to the lollipop lady who said she had seen several near misses – too many to quantify. The cars just keep going and the children have to jump out of the way.”

“I’m a great believer in prevention rather than fire fighting problems. I don’t want there to have to be a serious accident before something is done about it.”

Cllr Gritt, who represents Kinson North, raised the issue at a recent full council meeting but was told introducing a 20mph zone would cost around £200,000 and there had not been enough incidents on the road to justify the scheme.

Cllr Baxter, who represents Kinson South, said: “We don’t want there to be a fatality and that is why we are campaigning now to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

A survey conducted by the North Bournemouth Area Forum two years ago found approximately 1,170 vehicles travel along the road during peak times.

Mike Goodhew, chairman of the forum, said residents and councillors have been urging the local authority to take action for many years.

He added: “It’s got increasingly busier and around 3,500 children go to school in the area every day.

“There are four crossings on Poole Lane but two of them are in quite dangerous positions. We want the council to make them safer and introduce 20mph zones around them to slow the cars down.”

BOURNEMOUTH Borough Council says the cost of introducing a 20mph speed limit on Poole Lane cannot be justified.
 

Gary Powell, head of traffic management, said: “The council plans road safety improvements that will bring the greatest benefit to residents and looks to historical accident data to evidence where improvements are most needed.
 

“A scheme to introduce a 20mph limit as well as traffic calming measures would cost around £200,000 to complete; this would be a major investment of council resources that based on current evidence cannot be justified at this time.”
 

He added: “On Poole Lane there have been recent improvements to pedestrian and cycle facilities including a new toucan crossing, cycle link improvements and road layout changes.”