Campaigners are seeking community funding to end a ‘dangerous’ crossing situation outside an east Reading school.

Parent and campaigner Els De Mets set up a crowdfunding page to raise £2,000 for a crossing outside St Joseph’s College, on Upper Redlands Road.

St Joseph’s College has already agreed to contribute to make the crossing safer, while the JustGiving crowd funder has raised £395 in its first two weeks.

Discussions are also underway with the Vice-Chancellor at the University of Reading to get funding support.

Ms De Mets said a crossing would make it safer for children walking and cycling to school and help Reading to become carbon neutral by 2030.

She said: “There is no safe place to cross Upper Redlands Road between the school gates of St. Joseph’s College and Alexandra Road.

“This creates a dangerous situation for pupils from St. Joseph’s College and Redlands Primary School as well as students from the University of Reading.

“We know that the local community supports the creation of a crossing facility.

“However, it is costly to put in place and Reading Borough Council’s limited budget does not enable it to finance the crossing on its own.

“We are therefore raising contributions from the community.”

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.

Several designs are being considered, including a traditional zebra crossing costing around £50,000, and converted speed bumps with bollards would cost approximately £15,000 plus design fees.

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.

The council says it does not have enough money to install a zebra crossing.

Redlands ward councillor Tony Jones advised Ms De Mets that, due to the council’s tight budget situation, private contributions would greatly enhance the possibility of this crossing becoming a reality.

A petition set up by Ms De Mets and another parent last year, calling for a zebra crossing outside St Joseph’s College, received over 500 signatures.

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.

Ms De Mets added: “It should encourage more parents to let their children walk to school, knowing they can reach it safely.

“This in turn will mean less cars in the area and therefore less carbon emissions.

“Any step, no matter how small, towards helping RBC become carbon neutral by 2030 is a useful one.”

Whatever the campaigners manage to raise will be presented to the council for consideration.

All private donations will be refunded if the council decide to not put a crossing in place.

The crowdfunding page can be found here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/crossingonupperredlandsroad