By Conor Sharkey
A campaign to have traffic calming measures installed along the busy Fountain Street area of Strabane has been kickstarted by a group of concerned parents.
The campaign was launched after a survey carried out by Fountain Street Community Centre found that 83 per cent of parents were in favour of slowing down speeding motorists.
Fountain Street is one of the last estates in the town without traffic calming ramps and signage.
In a bid to have the measures installed, the local community group have written to the Department of Environment (DOE) with a view to a meeting. Meanwhile a sub-group of parents has been formed to back up the campaign.
Vice-chair of Fountain Street Community Centre Teresa Devine took up the story.
"We do have a problem with speeding cars along here. The community centre is used daily by the local Surestart group, so around 100 toddlers and their parents make their way along here everyday. On top of that, the youngsters coming to the youth club or just playing on the estate are being put in danger. So, we thought it was time something was done before a child is badly injured," she explained.
While steps put in place in the area known as 'The Gap', which links Fountain Street and Springhill Park, have helped ease the situation, more needs to be done Mrs Devine said.
"The steps from Springhill have helped motorist's vision. They can see the young people slightly easier but we really need ramps and speed limits," she said.
Backing the parental campaign is community activist Paul Gallagher.
He said: "We would like to know why, when every other estate in the town has traffic calming measures, we don't. Is it going to take the death of a child before the powers that be take notice?
"Ourselves within the Springhill Community Project launched a similar project some time back and we designed a mural at the bottom of the site, warning motorists to kill their speed. It has helped and I would be hopeful that something similar could be put in place here at Fountain Street," Mr Gallagher said.
One of the parents keen to see traffic calming measures implemented is mother of one Stacey Ward.
She said: "Myself and my sister live in Inisfree Gardens as do many young parents and the traffic around here does tend to speed, particularly taxis or work vans. It is time that something was done and we hope our campaign will be be successful," she said.
