Jade's Crossing is a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

Detling Detling is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the slope of the North Downs, north east of Maidstone, and on the Pilgrims' Way. History and features The ''Cock Horse Inn'' was used ...

, Kent, England. The footbridge crosses the A249, a major road which runs between

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

and

Sheerness Sheerness () is a town and civil parish beside the mouth of the River Medway on the north-west corner of the Isle of Sheppey in north Kent, England. With a population of 11,938, it is the second largest town on the island after the nearby tow ...

. The crossing is named after Jade Hobbs, who was killed attempting to cross the road in December 2000 aged eight. Her mother, Caroline, subsequently campaigned for the crossing to be built, and won a Special Award at the 2003 Pride of Britain Awards for her efforts.

Background

The A249 is a major dual carriageway, connecting the M20 and M2 motorways in Kent. It was improved in the 1960s to be an important link between these two roads, with the expectation that traffic would increase greatly along it. The location of the crossing lies on the

Pilgrim's Way The Pilgrims' Way (also Pilgrim's Way or Pilgrims Way) is the historical route supposedly taken by pilgrims from Winchester in Hampshire, England, to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury in Kent. This name, of comparatively recent co ...

, a historic track from Winchester to

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, to the west of Detling village itself. The road junction was built in 1961 as part of the Detling Bypass, which took the A249 away from the village centre. It opened to traffic in the summer of 1962. By 2000, an estimated 30,000 vehicles were using the road daily.

Jade Hobbs

Jade's Crossing, Detling, Kent - geograph

In 2000, Jade Hobbs was eight years old, and lived with her parents Paul and Caroline and four siblings. They had been complaining about the traffic for some time, and had led a campaign to persuade

Kent County Council Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the non-metropolitan county, county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 non-metropolitan district, district councils, and around ...

to install a footbridge. On 16 December, Jade was walking with her grandmother, Margaret Kuwertz, to do some Christmas shopping. Kuwertz had looked across the road, and decided it was safe, but just before they managed to cross the other side, she was hit by an oncoming vehicle. Jade attempted to pull her grandmother to safety, but was also killed by the impact. Caroline Hobbs later recalled "Mum must've thought they could get across, and hadn't seen the other car. And they were actually nearly across when the car hit them."

Crossing

After the accident, Caroline Hobbs insisted that not only did the crossing impact safety, it also affected quality of life as it prevented children from being able to walk to the local school or village hall unaccompanied. Kent County Council installed two

speed camera In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quanti ...

s at the junction in 2001 but refused to build a footbridge on cost grounds. The Hobbs family set up a charity for donations, raising £75,000 towards constructing the footbridge. In March 2001, the council announced that the crossing would be built. It was officially opened by Caroline and Paul Hobbs in August 2002. The crossing includes a

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ...

silhouette, based on one of Jade's favourite hobbies. A plaque near the crossing commemorates Jade and other fatal casualties at accidents on the A249. The Hobbs' campaigning towards building the crossing resulted in Caroline winning the Special Award at the 2003

Pride of Britain Awards The Pride of Britain Awards is an annual award ceremony which has taken place in the United Kingdom since May 1999 and first televised on ITV in April 2000. The awards honour British people who have acted bravely or extraordinarily in challen ...

. Caroline Hobbs continued to run the Jade Charity. In 2007, it donated road safety play equipment to local schools. The charity relies on the goodwill of visitors, principally walkers travelling along the Pilgrim's Way, to leave a donation to help fund the upkeep of the crossing. In 2010 the Hobbs family left the area and moved abroad. In February 2011, the crossing was defaced with anti-Muslim graffiti.

References

{{reflist, 30em

External links

Jade's Crossing – East Kent Cycle Campaign
Pedestrian bridges in England Bridges completed in 2002 Pedestrian safety 2002 establishments in England