HEADTEACHERS in Abingdon have put forward a £500,000 ‘shopping list’ of road safety improvements following the deaths of two pupils.

They have called for a series of measures, including speed reductions, pedestrian crossings, new signs and improved cycle lanes, to be brought in to improve safety in the town.

In July, Larkmead School pupil Ty-Ree Partridge, 11, died after she collided with a van in Copenhagen Drive as she cycled home from a school science club. Nine months earlier, another Larkmead pupil, Sarah Waterhouse, 17, had died in a cycle accident involving a coach in Colwell Drive.

The headteachers, from six schools and a college in the north of the town, are demanding action from Oxfordshire County Council.

Jonathan Dennett, deputy headteacher at Larkmead, said the tragedies had made the need for improvements vital.

“It’s sad these accidents have happened for the improvements to be suggested and we just hope the county listens,” he said. “We’ve worked very hard with concerned parents to come up with a list of changes that have to be made.”

Mr Dennett said: “This is one of the key issues in the town that affects the whole community and has the backing of everyone.”

The headteachers have spent the past few months working alongside Abingdon Town Council to compile a report calling for changes.

The suggested improvements include building a diamond interchange at the A34 at Lodge Hill to reduce traffic on the town ring road, 20mph speed limits near schools and reducing the speed limits on the ring road from 40mph to 30mph.

The call has been made by the headteachers of Larkmead School, St Helen and St Katharine School, Abingdon School, John Mason School, Fitzharrys School, Our Lady’s Convent and Abingdon and Witney College.

The schools compiled the report, along with town councillor Colin Walters, outlining the changes and submitted it to the county council.

Mr Walters said: “A lot of time, money and effort is expended on schemes to ease the flow of motor traffic. It seems that foot traffic is the last thing to be considered, with a couple of dropped kerbs and an island refuge leaving users to dice with moving vehicles.”

He said: “We should not have to wait for fatalities to illustrate the folly of this approach, before something that should have been included in the initial design is finally put in place.”

Councillor Ian Hudspeth, the county council’s cabinet member for growth and infrastructure, said: “We are conducting a wider study of road safety for children across Oxfordshire and that very much includes Abingdon. Our officers will look intently at what the schools in Abingdon have said.

“Local communities are rightly passionate about safety issues, and we get a number of these requests every year. We always listen, but people will understand that we can’t deal with requests in isolation — there must be a county-wide strategy and county-wide goals.”