Status unknown
Unsafe to pedestrians crossing the a33
Reported via desktop in the Traffic lights category anonymously at 11:31, Mon 8 August 2022
Sent to Reading Borough Council less than a minute later. FixMyStreet ref: 3738244.
Unbelievably, Reading Borough Council has still not installed adequate pedestrian safety indicators on the traffic lights at this junction busy junction. Yes, there is a small display, though these have limited impact and are only visible from one angle. This safety issue requires urgent action!
Updates
-
Hi there,
What is the actual issue? Are you saying there should be an red/green man on the opposite side of the road?
Thanks
Posted anonymously at 14:58, Mon 8 August 2022
-
When you cross the road you naturally look ahead and therefore there should be a visual display that can be seen over the vehicles that use the road; there should also be an audio warning for partially sighted people. It took the Council's contractors over a year to install these traffic lights and now the junction is less safe than it was before they started.
Posted anonymously at 16:08, Mon 8 August 2022
-
Thanks for clarifying,
I will try an explain as best I can.
All new crossing points that are either standalone or integrated within a junction will now use nearsided signals (I.e the red/green man will always be at the side you start your crossing) this is so you will have a better view of approaching traffic and to alleviate the danger that a far sided signal head maybe blocked by a high sided vehicle.
How a nearsided crossing works is that you will always have a minimum green man time (usually 3-7 seconds). You will also have what is called an on crossing detector which will extend your crossing time when it detects someone crossing the road, these usually look like a black camera pointed at the road (one on each side of the crossing.
With regards to audio signals, it is very unusual to have audio’s at a junction unless you have an all around pedestrian phase (I.e possibly at a T- Junction where all crossing points have a green man signal at the same time).
Junctions and pedestrian crossings are fitted with what are called tactile units underneath the push button which will rotate when the green man is shown, this will help pedestrians with hearing and visual disabilities to cross safely.
The reason why you wouldn’t have audio’s installed on a junction with separated crossings is that there is a danger pedestrians would falsely mistake an audio signal on a different crossing point to be a for their own, this is why you wouldn’t find audio’s on a dual pedestrian crossing either.
Hope this helps
Posted anonymously at 17:31, Mon 8 August 2022
-
Hi Thank you for your comments but I disagree. Your theory works when there's one person waiting to cross but not when there are multiples; the traffic lights created chaos on Saturday when Reading played their first home game of the season. Many supporters were confused as to when they could cross, with several walking into a live lane. The council's first priority should be safety and in my opinion these traffic lights are not as safe as the ones they replaced.
Posted anonymously at 13:57, Wed 10 August 2022
-
Still open, via questionnaire, 12:37, Mon 5 September 2022
Provide an update
Please note that updates are not sent to the council. Your information will only be used in accordance with our privacy policy