Parents are calling for an end to the ‘unsafe’ crossing situation outside an east Reading school.

A petition set up by two parents, calling for a zebra crossing outside St Joseph’s College on Upper Redlands Road, has received over 400 signatures.

There are currently crossings at the top of Alexandra Road and on Upper Redlands Road but these do not provide a direct route for pupils going to or from Shinfield Road.

Petition co-founder Els De Mets said: “The crossing is not required for convenience. There is simply no safe place for children and adults to cross.”

She said the lack of a safe crossing place impacts pupils at St Joseph’s College and Redlands Primary School, students from the University of Reading and the public.

“The lack of a pedestrian crossing near St Joseph’s College is incredible considering the volume and speed of traffic", she added.

"A lot of people say it is an accident waiting to happen. No-one wants to wait for a fatality to get this pedestrian crossing to the top of the agenda.”

Ms De Mets, whose son attends pre-school at St Joseph's College, has been in touch with Reading Borough Council (RBC) over the last year to discuss the proposal.

She said: “Whilst the council is sympathetic with our request and have added it to their very long list of requested traffic management measures, there is no funding available to even investigate the possibility of a crossing facility, let alone develop one."

Ms De Mets added that RBC has not been able to share any cost estimates to help establish whether external fundraising is viable.

Councillor Page, lead member for strategic environment, transport and planning, said: “RBC is unfortunately not in a position to use finite resources on investigating unfunded schemes.

"Money spent on such investigations would result in priority schemes not being progressed elsewhere in the borough.

"We do however continue to encourage residents who feel strongly about a case to make representations to the council or local councillors.

"It is possible in some instances that schemes could be incorporated into any future area-wide traffic management studies.”

Local traffic management requests and petitions, are reported to the Traffic Management Sub-committee and considered on a priority basis while awaiting funding.

Funding comes primarily through developer contributions, such as the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), or third party organisations.

The petition can be found here: https://www.change.org/p/we-need-a-zebra-crossing-at-st-joseph-s-college