A lot of the pedestrians approaching from the east walk up Church Vale and the adjoining path and are heading towards the underpass. So the natural crossing point is somewhere between the car park entrance and the underpass. The introduction of the island made crossing a lot safer and easier, and losing it is a retrograde step, though I do acknowledge the other improvements should help.
There is to be a raised area for crossing north of the underpass. I wonder why we can't have one south of it as well?