School access work will start after a long wait (From Daily Echo)

School access work will start after a long wait

1:26pm Wednesday 20th August 2008 in

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WORK on a new £150,000 access route for a Romsey school starts this week after 20 years of calls to improve the safety of the entrance.

Queuing buses and coaches lining up outside Mountbatten School have long been a major concern for parents and teachers due to the narrow restrictions of Whitenap Lane.

Now new gates for the exit and entrance of the school are being installed and work on a new access road from the A27 is due to begin in October.

Pedestrian crossing and footpath widening schemes have already been completed.

Deputy leader of Hampshire County Council Roy Perry, who has been campaigning for a new road access for Mountbatten School said the long awaited work comes after a series of delays over landscaping and highway issues.

"I had hoped the work might be done during the summer holidays.

"After 20 years waiting to achieve this I think a few more weeks are bearable," he said.

"There are traffic problems at the start and end of the school day at most schools which for the most part are largely unavoidable.

"The problem at Mountbatten was particularly severe with approximately 20 coaches stacking up in a narrow country lane every day.

"I made getting this long standing problem at Mountbatten School one of my highest priorities when I was elected to the County Council and it's good to see the plans coming to fruition."

The cost of the new access will be around £150,000 and is being funded partly by the County Council's Children's Services and the Safer Routes to School fund as well as by the school itself.