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Pedestrian Crossings

You are here: Home - Histories - Pedestrian Crossings - Please cross here

In recent years, the introduction of new types of pedestrian crossing - particularly the controversial puffin, which detects the presence of people and vehicles to calculate the right crossing time - has been the cause of much public debate. But concern over how to get people over the road has been a source of discussion since the motor car first started to jostle Britain's pedestrians for roadspace. Has anything really changed?

This feature looks into the development of British pedestrian facilities - from the humble zebra crossing through to the trusty pelican. It's a more interesting story than you might think - and there's a chance to have a go at some of the different types of crossing along the way.

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Please cross here

To make a crossing more sophisticated than a simple Zebra, we need to start adding some traffic signals, and the rest of these pages chart the development of the signal-controlled crossing. Given that the Zebra emerged in 1953, and that reports of the introduction of various types of experimental signalised crossings in the 1960s (of which much more later) usually portray the public as being baffled by all the new technology, you could be forgiven for thinking they were a relatively recent invention. Not so.

The very first signalised crossings in Britain were introduced by Manchester-based Forest City Ltd. in 1929 - and it was very much recognisable as a pedestrian crossing to modern eyes. It consisted simply of a regular traffic signal on each side of the road, with a push button for pedestrians. When the button was pressed the lights changed to red for a set time, and then returned to green. A timer ensured that traffic would not be interrupted for a certain interval afterwards. Perhaps equally remarkable is that the first set of traffic signals was only installed in Wolverhampton in November 1927 - meaning that in less than two years, the concept of red-amber-green signals had become obvious enough to the motorist that Forest City's marketing need not explain any part of the traffic signal itself (click the image to the right to see the brochure for their first prototype). The whole setup could be manufactured and installed for the towering sum of £65.

Forest City's plans for the crossing involved painting two parallel lines across the road to mark the crossing place - "Pedestrian Safety Zone Lines" to be precise - and marking another line further back along with the word "STOP" to keep waiting traffic a cautious 20 feet from the crossing. If £65 was too steep, the 1920s traffic engineer could opt for a two-light system, with only red and green, or even a one-light system, with just a red 'stop' light that lit up when the button was pressed - the latter being a much more reasonable £45. It wasn't long before the design was modified to include pedestrian signals, though at first these were simply another set of red, amber and green lights placed at right-angles to the pavement. At the time, with no set procedure, amber always appeared simultaneously with either the red or green light instead of on its own.

Forest City marketing brochure explaining the different signals available. Click to enlarge.

Some of the earliest of these crossings were installed on the A23 London to Brighton road that same year, in response to several serious accidents involving people trying to cross, including an alderman who was knocked over and the death of a former councillor. The Evening Standard announced the "Croydon Experiment" with much fanfare, announcing with some excitement:

Croydon was sufficiently pleased with them to install more closer to the town centre on North End soon afterwards. By the mid-1930s there were quite a few sets around London, and presumably other cities. Forest City had updated its designs again - despite being denied a patent - so that pedestrians were now given white "DON'T CROSS" and "CROSS NOW" lights, with a Belisha Beacon on top of the traffic signals. This futuristic piece of technology marketed for £85-120.

By this time, the Ministry of Transport considered that signalised pedestrian crossings were safely out of the 'experimental' stage. It was only then that any official guidance was provided on them - they were, after all, just a product manufactured by one company which was being installed by local authorities. The guidance, however, was simply that they should be fitted with "Please Cross Here" signs as used at other safe places to cross the road.

All the same, these newfangled traffic lights stayed rather daring in the view of the authorities, and a crossing in Stepney, East London, was ruled out in 1931 by the person responsible for vetting possible crossing sites, on the grounds that it was home to a large number of immigrants:

This was from the Metropolitan Police. Clearly, a single push-button mounted on a pole would be beyond these simple foreigners, and never mind that those who could read might be able to set an example. Long live the Empire!

Despite a fair number of crossings appearing in the 1930s, there's little evidence of enthusiasm from the authorities. In fact, most of the ideas for crossing places seem to have come from Forest City themselves, shamelessly sending letters to councils and the Ministry of Transport, such as one in the early 1930s which suggests that a high accident rate on "Weston Avenue" could be solved using traffic signals. In that particular case the Ministry decided to install footbridges instead, which just goes to show that flattery will get you nowhere in government.

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