Gazette Comment (From Gazette Series)

Gazette Comment

IT is no fun walking to school in Stone. In fact it is potentially very dangerous.

The main road, the busy A38, carries a lot of traffic, much of it large lorries. Amazingly drivers can still travel at 50mph.

Gloucestershire County Council has imposed numerous limits on much more open stretches and just up the road Newport, which is similarly built-up and straighter, enjoys the comparative safety of a 40mph limit.

Parents and governors of Stone with Woodford Primary School are campaigning for a similar speed limit - and quite rightly so. The Gazette fully supports them and urges the highways authority to take action now.

This week the problems were highlighted to Stroud MP David Drew, who joined parents and pupils on their way to school. He admits it is a pain walking along the road but says there are alternative paths that have not been used for a long time.

The school is desperate to extend and plans would allow for a new access path. But there is no guarantee they will be approved. In any event all this is some time in the future.

Paths or no paths, some parents from outlying areas will still need to drive their children to school, using the bending A38.

The speed limit needs to be cut now before, as parents fear, someone is killed.