Parents at a Woodford Green primary school and Orchard Estate residents could be one step closer in their bid to make a busy road safer.

On Tuesday, councillors will be asked to approve plans for a zebra crossing in Broadmead Road, next to the estate, which will help children on their way to Ray Lodge Primary School in Snakes Lane East.

The £41,000 works were prompted by parents and the school calling for action in 2009 over fears for children crossing the road.

Cllr Gwyneth Deakins, of Roding ward, said: “There was a bit of a campaign by the Orchard Estate.

“There’s quite a few children living on the estate who go to Ray Lodge – that’s their main route to get across the road.

“It’s a long road and it’s tempting for drivers to speed along. It’s quite dangerous.”

The divided crossing, with a central pedestrian island, lanterns and paving, will sit close to the junction with Finchingfield Avenue if councillors approve the plans and funds are found.

It does not qualify for Transport for London or Redbridge Council capital funding and a council report said “there is little justification for its installation” based on speed surveys and accident records.

But the report concluded: “Officers are aware that [councillors] have shown concern that there is no formal street level crossing facility along this stretch of the road and that parents and the school have expressed the same concerns.”

Cllr Deakins said: “I understand why there are these criteria, but it’s not as simple as having a lot of accidents – that’s what we’re trying to avoid.”

She said the expansion of Woodbridge High School in St Barnabas Road will also put pressure on crossing points.

Jim Brennan, 66, an estate resident, likened speeds on the road to the film Death Race 2000.

He welcomed the crossing, but said: “They need speed ramps. You ought to see them coming up the road at 60 to 70 mph.”

Funding would need to come from the area committee’s discretionary budget or be referred to the cabinet.