Children walking and cycling to St Mary’s Primary in Bathgate are “risking life and limb” every day because of a narrow footpath according to parents.
They have been campaigning for safety improvements for years on the busy Whitburn Road and submitted a petition to West Lothian Council to have the pavement widened.
Lisa Constanza, chair of St Mary’s Primary Parent Council, told the council’s Executive: “We know the path meets minimum standards. We have been told that for years. But minimum standards for what?
“I’d ask you to take a look at the path at 8.30am in the morning and 3.15pm in the afternoon and you will see how busy it is.
“You’ll see why many kids don’t like it and many parents opt to drive their children to school.”
Mrs Constanza has two sons at the school. She told the meeting of the executive that the petition had attracted 376 signatures.
Parents fear that the opening of a new coffee shop in the area will lead to increased traffic and danger in what is already a busy approach to the shopping centre in Bathgate.
She said: “It’s unfathomable to parents that the coffee shop was given permission when requests to widen the path have not been.
“It’s like the coffee shop is more important than children’s safety.”
The path is at its narrowest in front of the town’s primary health care centre which adds to the foot and motor traffic at crucial times such as during the walk to school.
Alongside a plea for a wider path parents want to see more safe crossing points and speed reduction measures put in place, along with more safety barriers.
The Executive agreed the petition should be referred to the Environment Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel (PDSP) for an updated report before coming back to the Executive for a decision.
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