A REPORT ON the safety of a road crossing alongside a Moray school that was promised over a month ago will not be available until the end of January.
Concerns over the safety of children crossing the busy A96 through Elgin to access East End primary school prompted a pledge from Transport Scotland to complete a report by November.
However, the roads agency admitted this week that it has taken longer than had been expected – adding that a draft report on their investigations would not now be ready until later this month.
The delay is proving to be a huge disappointment to parents who are already fighting a battle over the immediate future of their school, as Moray Council seek to make major changes ahead of the creation of a second primary school in Elgin.
A spokeswoman for Transport Scotland said: “We have been carrying out a study at East End Primary to make sure that the correct interventions are made for this section of the A96.
“We had hoped that this would be completed by now – but consultation with some of the parties involved has taken longer than expected and we are aiming to finalise a draft report by mid-month.”
Transport Scotland were asked to examine if they should install a new pedestrian crossing outside the school, which is currently patrolled by a Moray Council crossing patrol officer. The move came after concerns from the parent council, with Moray Council’s transport manager, Nicola Moss, agreeing that “clear concerns” existed for children walking along and crossing the busy trunk road.
Reporting the that Transport Scotland had been asked to undertake the study in October, Ms Moss said: “There is a manned school crossing patrol at East End but there are discussions with Transport Scotland about providing a controlled crossing in that area, and we continue to push them on that.”