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23
Feb
Knaresborough level crossing closed after near-miss involving child
A level crossing in Knaresborough has closed temporarily due to serious safety concerns – including a near-miss involving a child.
Network Rail today (February 23) told the Stray Ferret it sought the emergency closure of Frogmire Lane level crossing due to problems with vandalism, schoolchildren using the crossing and issues with visibility.
A spokesperson said:
Network Rail sought a temporary emergency closure of Frogmire Lane level crossing due to a number of serious safety concerns, including a recent near miss involving a child.
The closure is currently in place for 21 days.
Safety concerns at the site include the curved railway alignment, which Network Rail said restricts pedestrians' sight lines.
Vegetation growth on the embankment at the level crossing makes is “extremely difficult to manage visibility safety”, Network Rail said, adding trains also coast along that section of the railway line, making it difficult to hear them approaching.
Knaresborough town councillors (from left) Andy Bell, Hannah Gostlow and Helen Westmancoat at the level crossing.
Longstanding concerns
The closure comes after members of Knaresborough Town Council met Network Rail representatives at the crossing last November, when they raised similar concerns.
Liberal Democrat Cllr Andy Bell told a town council meeting that day that safety at the crossing had been an issue for a “long, long time” and new housing in the area and Inspire Youth’s relocation to nearby Halfpenny Close had increased the risk.
He told the Stray Ferret at the time:
Network Rail tell us the crossing is used by 38 people a day on average and most of these are children. There have been a number of incidents and one very near miss in recent years. There are two other much safer crossings within a few hundred metres either side.
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