Portsmouth City Council
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Types of Crossings
Pedestrian crossings are there to help YOU. By using a crossing you are helping drivers by using authorised crossing points. Crossing at other points are more dangerous as drivers are not expecting to see pedestrians on the road.Pelican Crossings
This is a Pedestrian Light Controlled crossing. At this type of crossing a person waiting to cross a busy road presses a push-button on a control box fixed on a traffic signal post. This briefly stops the traffic long enough to let pedestrians cross in safety. Various measures are installed at many crossings to help blind and partially sighted people.
On single carriageways most Pelican crossings have a traditional ‘bleeper’. On dual carriageways this bleeping signal can mislead blind and partially sighted people because, when the traffic stops and bleeper sounds, they cannot tell which half of the crossing is safe to cross. A solution has been the introduction of a small rotating knob underneath the push button box. A blind person can hold the cone and, when it starts to turn, knows that the ‘green man’ is showing and it is safe to cross. New Pelican/Puffin/Toucan crossings should have an audible signal (bleeper), or a rotating cone, or both.
PUFFIN Crossings
This Pedestrian User Friendly INtelligent type of crossing is being introduced and is intended to replace the pelican crossing. The difference is that with a Puffin crossing there is no flashing ‘green man’ period for pedestrians or flashing amber period for motorists. Instead it uses sensors which can tell if there is a pedestrian waiting to cross, and can extend the ‘green man’ time while a pedestrian is on the actual crossing.
This system is thought to be much safer since pedestrians will no longer be intimidated by motorists during the flashing green man/flashing amber traffic period. The ‘green man’ period will be longer for slower pedestrians. In addition the pedestrian demand will be cancelled if the pedestrian, having pressed the push button, crossed through a gap in the traffic. This will avoid motorists being stopped unnecessarily where there are no pedestrians waiting to cross.
Toucan Crossings
Another relatively new type of crossing, the Toucan (two can) operates in exactly the same way as the Puffin crossing except that it is usually wider and is shared by both cyclists and pedestrians.
Zebra Crossings
The oldest type of crossing with black and white striped markings on the road. It is advisable for pedestrians to wait for traffic to stop before crossing using the Zebra. Where there is a refuge or central reservation on a Zebra crossing, the two parts of the crossing should be treated as separate crossings. On Zebras near houses the flashing beacons can be fitted with shields to prevent or reduce light shining into people’s windows.
