Victory at the Junction for the Disabled (From The Argus)

Victory at the Junction for the Disabled

4:59pm Monday 21st November 2011 in News By Ron Sharratt, community correspondent

Disabled people in Woodingdean have had some positive results from their protests concerning problems crossing over the Junction at the Downs Hotel.

Following extensive alterations at the Junction earlier this year people using wheelchairs and mobility scooters found the gradient and camber of the pavements at the crossing difficult, if not impossible, for their vehicles to manage. One wheelchair user told me that it was impossible to mount the pavement at two of the four corners. “I had to ride along the road and mount the pavement where I could” he told me.

However, thanks to campaigning on the issue by wheelchair user Kim Waghorn and others a solution has been found. Wheelchair and Mobility Scooter users can now cross safely going diagonally between the North west of the Junction outside the Downs Hotel to the South East outside the Sports Shop. The traffic lights have had sensors put on them to stop the lights changing should someone be still in the road. However, it is esssential to keep moving.

Kim said “I realise that if someone wants to go to the Co-op, the pharmacy or the internet café, for example, crossing diagonally means you end up on the wrong side of the road. But it takes just a few minutes to go a bit further along to the zebra crossing to get back to the north side of Warren Way”. “The Council traffic engineers I have liaised with have been extremely helpful and keen to find a solution to our problem” she went on, “so we have them to thank for this positive result. I hope this solution is helpful to those people who have felt unsafe in wheelchairs or scooters”.