Editor,
In Bedford Ian’s weekly report of 6 June 2025, in his first article, he writes about ‘Crossing Chaos’ with particular reference to the new crossing just inside The Embankment from the High Street. (Bedford Ian, 6 June 2025).
Surely he was joking when he said the crossing was holding up traffic and that there were too many such crossings in Bedford, citing a number of other new ones.
Crossings are for the safety of pedestrians, including the elderly, disabled and school children, and in the case of Parallel, Toucan and Pegasus types are also for cyclists.
The current location of The Embankment is on the desired line for pedestrians and allows at least one car and even a bus, as pictured in the article, to wait safely. The crossing should not be moved further along the road, where it is less likely to be used.
The main problem is the increasing amount of traffic on our roads, particularly on the High Street. Through traffic, including all HGVs should be banned along this road as originally planned when the Great Ouse Way was opened in 2016.
Peter Blakeman
Cycling Campaign for North Bedfordshire
Editor’s note: As well as a previous letter, we have shown this letter to ‘Bedford Ian’, and he believes you may have missed the point. The issue is not how many zebra (or any other type) crossings there are, but where they are placed, as they must be located with the safety of both pedestrians and motorists in mind. He may cover this in a later column.
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