Dawlish Town Council was unanimous in its support of road safety measures on the A379 Exeter Road and the junction with Elm Grove Road near Dawlish College at its most recent meeting.

Since Devon County Council manages the roads, the town council will now facilitate a meeting with them and stakeholders to highlight the issue.

It comes after local resident Daniella Jordan created an online petition to have a variable speed limit and hazard signs installed at the two zebra crossings on the road.

A teenage boy was also recently involved in a collision with a car on Exeter Road on 14 January and taken to hospital with a serious arm injury.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Jordan said: "I am the voice of currently 875 people who are concerned for the safety of the children and pedestrians in Dawlish.

"You ask the residents of Dawlish, everybody's got a story about those zebra crossings.

"Every morning children cross the road; every afternoon they cross the road again.

"This stretch of road is 30mph, the speed limit. When you're going 30mph and hit that child, it could be fatal."

Cllr Martin Wrigley, who is also Devon County Councillor for Dawlish, said: "I have in front of me the accident database ... between 2016 and 2020 it's showing around 10 accidents on that stretch of road already.

"The arrangement of the two crossings and the conflicting bus stops ... on the brow of the hill has seemed bonkers ever since it was put in."

During the meeting Ms. Jordan offered a variable speed limit and a pelican crossing (a set of traffic lights with a pedestrian crossing) as potential solutions.

Ideas put forward by councillors included a non-variable 20mph speed limit for the road and also a lollipop person as a quick meantime fix.

Ms. Jordan's petition now has 924 signatures at the time of writing. Click here to view the petition.

—————

Got a Dawlish story you want to share with us? Email [email protected]

For daily updates on what's happening in Dawlish, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up to our free weekly newsletter featuring exclusive articles for subscribers - just type your email into the box below.