Gosport bus stop is '˜a fatality in the making'

That is the warning from a concerned Gosport councillor, who says that the actions of motorists at a bus stop are an accident waiting to happen.

Ann’s Hill Road in Privett has a bus stop either side of the road, with an island in between for pedestrians to cross.

But according to Cllr Rob Hylands, if a bus is parked at one of the stops, motorists are often seen driving on the other side of the road to get past.

This, he says, has the makings of a fatal accident.

Cllr Hylands said: ‘When a bus pulls up, it isn’t uncommon for traffic to build up behind.

‘Impatient motorists are known to try and overtake all the traffic and the bus – but this is incredibly dangerous.

‘This is a fatality in the making and we cannot just sit by and hope the problem goes away.

‘Something needs to be done.’

Cllr Hylands says that a number of options are available – but that each of them would bring some complications.

He said: ‘The first thing we could do is move the island, but this would be a nightmare while roadworks go on.

‘The other option would be to move the bus stops themselves, but that would take a lot of planning with a number of parties.

‘In the meantime, we need to raise awareness of the issue, in the hope that people reconsider trying to take a shortcut like this.

‘The last time we had an issue like this, we didn’t take action until after a fatality.

‘I cannot sit back with that on my conscience again.’

Ann’s Hill bus stop is used by the Eclipse bus service, which comes under FirstGroup Plc.

FirstGroup was approached by The News, but was unavailable for comment.