Removing traffic lights

Being mostly a pedestrian (bus/train user at other times). I am very partial to Zebra crossings but accept they are not always used correctly by all parties concerned much these days; so accept Pelican's are the next best thing but only when synch'd as suggested elsewhere.

I see that in north London (boo hiss!) they've installed some 'countdown' displays on the pelican crossings in Finsbury Square last week. I will be interested to see if they spread around town.

I much preferred the Dutch crossings that have a audible pip that grows faster as the red light sequence approaches and displays then returns to a slower pace afterwards etc, etc. Useful for the blind, I suspect cheaper to run/maintain.

i would say the majority of pedestrians will be unaffected by the removal of lights as they don't use them.in the US jay-walking is an offence, here it is a bad habit. this does all seem to be rather a fuss about nothing

SE1Commuter - we had them first at Union Street/The Cut/Blackfriars Bridge Road.

re Jay walking - I've never understood why the minority of people who isolate themselves inside a shell of steel and poison their neighbours think they should have the right to sole use of large areas of the city. Pedestrians were on the highways long before cars were and still have a right to be there.

As a pedestrian, cyclist and driver I much prefer Zebra crossings as they keep the flow of traffic moving and the onus is on the driver to stop.... and woe betide them if they don't! This part of Tooley St is traffic choked and not pedestrian friendly; putting in Zebras would put pedestrians back in charge? I accept Pelicans may be necessary on some parts but surely at least 1 or 2 sets of lights could be removed?

Rambling Phil wrote:

SE1Commuter - we had them first at Union Street/The Cut/Blackfriars Bridge Road.
re Jay walking - I've never understood why the minority of people who isolate themselves inside a shell of steel and poison their neighbours think they should have the right to sole use of large areas of the city. Pedestrians were on the highways long before cars were and still have a right to be there.

Erm isn't that why there are pavements....and each group yield to each other at crossing points rather than getting in each other's way...a jaywalking car mounting the pavement in Tooley Street...can you imagine the mayhem that would cause so why do pedestrians get absolved of bad behaviour

Extract from a written answer to Val Shawcross from Boris Johnson:

"...TfL currently has no plans to remove the pedestrian crossing at Union Street/Great Suffolk Street."

Sort of off-topic (or not quite on) but we could really do with some pedestrian crossing lights at the Borough High Street/Great Suffolk Street/Trinity Street junction.

At the moment, not only are there no pedestrian lights, but there's also no time when all the lights are red - so there's no safe time to cross the road. And with Great Suffolk Street being a shopping area there's always plenty of pedestrians wanting to cross.

Better idea: get rid of all the crossings and increase the speed limit to 40mph. Children wanting to get to school or the London Dungeon can simply hurl the smallest one in their group into the road, and cross when the traffic is stopped by the ambulance that comes to scrape him off the road. Sensible policies for a happier SE1.

jpm wrote:

Sort of off-topic (or not quite on) but we could really do with some pedestrian crossing lights at the Borough High Street/Great Suffolk Street/Trinity Street junction.
At the moment, not only are there no pedestrian lights, but there's also no time when all the lights are red - so there's no safe time to cross the road. And with Great Suffolk Street being a shopping area there's always plenty of pedestrians wanting to cross.

I agree 100%

YNB79 wrote:

jpm wrote:

Sort of off-topic (or not quite on) but we could really do with some pedestrian crossing lights at the Borough High Street/Great Suffolk Street/Trinity Street junction.
At the moment, not only are there no pedestrian lights, but there's also no time when all the lights are red - so there's no safe time to cross the road. And with Great Suffolk Street being a shopping area there's always plenty of pedestrians wanting to cross.

I agree 100%

I never find that the Trinity Street/Gt Suffolk St axis of that junction is busy enough to warrant another phase - never have any problems crossing when that axis is on green and I do it in either direction most days.

Granted, I have to take the time to look left and right before crossing, but it is simple enough if you get in the habbit.