NORTON councillors have raised concerns over the safety of pedestrians following changes to the layout of the town’s Church Street junction.

Members discussed the impact of the road priority changes with James Malcolm and Melanie Farnham from North Yorkshire County Council’s highways at their monthly meeting.

Councillor Di Keal said the alterations had made it more dangerous for people trying to cross the road.

“The problem is that vehicles are going so fast along Welham Road and then carry on round the corner to Norton Road - there has been a lot of near misses on that corner,” she added. “It is particularly difficult for elderly people and parents with pushchairs or prams.”

Councillors also raised concerns over the redistribution of traffic following alterations to the Church Street junction.

Cllr David Lloyd-Williams said: “The traffic is now backing up along Church Street and will cause greater problems during the summer months.

“The amount of drivers using St Nicholas Street rather than get caught up in the queues is up 50 per cent which is not pleasant for people who live in what is a residential street. A mini-roundabout would have been a far better option at the junction to keep the traffic flowing both ways.”

Mayor of Norton, Cllr Ray King, said: “At the moment traffic is backing up along Commercial Street to the library and if it gets worse businesses are going to suffer as people will not come into Norton.

“However, I would also like the county council officers to take onboard our concerns about pedestrian safety.”

Mr Malcolm and Mrs Farnham said they had recently made a site visit to the junction and were now looking at reducing the signage and changing the bollards.

“The pedestrian links to Malton are not good at the moment but this needs to go through an assessment process,” Mrs Farnham said. “At the moment we don’t have the funding to do major improvement works but the community consultation as part of improvements to Malton Railway Station will look at the wider picture of pedestrian access to and from the level crossing.”

Mrs Farnham said the consultation would be carried out as part of the proposed increase to the number of trains coming through Malton over the next few years.

“Norton Road will be part of that consultation work and the possibility of it becoming one-way,” she added. “It will also look at the introduction of pedestrian islands in Welham Road near the Railway Club which will narrow the road and help slow the traffic as well as making it easier for people to cross.”

Mrs Farnham said they had seen first-hand the difficulties people faced.

“It is not an easy site and quite unique in character but we will be monitoring it and any improvements will be very much community led.”