CONCERNS have been raised over the safety of students from Holy Family School, who are at risk every time they walk to and from school.
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Despite being in a highly-populated area of Trinity Heights, close to shops and right next to a main road to the central business district, there is no pedestrian crossing available to students.
Instead, many need to try to cross Marsden Lane and it has parents fearful that it could one day lead to a tragic accident.
Mother Sharon Francis, who has had children at the school over a 13-year period, said she only recently started to allow her 10-year-old to walk the short distance to school on her own.
However, her daughter still fears crossing Marsden Lane to get to the school.
"I'm just hoping to get some form of crossing on Marsden Lane because come the end of school time it gets so busy to get across this road," Ms Francis said.
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She has previously inquired about a crossing, but was told there would not be enough use to justify it.
Holy Family School continues to grow though, and with nearly 400 enrolments, Ms Francis sees an even greater need for a crossing.
She has now reached out to councillor Alex Christian, who is completely on board with her campaign.
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He was aware studies had been done in the past, but said safety should come first.
"I don't care if we have to bend the rules, common sense needs to take priority here. We are talking about the safety of school children," Cr Christian said.
He believes the issue of crossing Marsden Lane is further exacerbated by the fact that there is no school zone on the busy road, meaning motorists don't need to slow down to a safer speed.
Cr Christian said the pedestrian crossing would only impact motorists twice a day and go a long way in increasing safety.
"It will only be busy twice a day at school time. It will only serve to slow cars down, so it will make the area safer," he said. "It won't affect traffic outside of those peak times."
The issue was raised at the most recent Bathurst Regional Council meeting by Cr Christian and he would like to see council contact all relevant authorities to ensure a crossing is installed.
"If you've got a crossing between the pool and McDonald's, then surely you can slap one here," he said.
