Puffins on the Broadway

BOROUGH OF POOLE

BEARWOOD, MERLEY and BROADSTONE AREA COMMITTEE

17 SEPTEMBER 2003

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF TRANSPORTATION SERVICES

ON PUFFINS IN THE BROADWAY

1 Purpose of Report

1.1. The purpose of this report is to explain the timings associated with the new Puffin crossings in The Broadway, Broadstone.

2. Recommendation

2.1 It is recommended that the contents of the report be noted and that a period of monitoring of the situation be followed up by a future report to this Committee.

1. Information
2. The two existing Pelicans on Lower Blandford Road/The Broadway were converted to Puffin type facilities in June 2002. Puffin facilities give much greater protection to pedestrians and The Broadway had experienced a series of injuries to (particularly elderly) pedestrians. In the last 6 years 12 pedestrians were injured on The Broadway, 5 of which were serious injuries.
3. Both of the pelicans on Lower Blandford Road were refurbished as part of the traffic signal maintenance programme This is a rolling programme to replace all Pelican crossings with Puffin crossings as they become due for refurbishment. Pelican crossings are upgraded to Puffin crossings as this is the new type of pedestrian crossing which helps both pedestrians and vehicles.
4. Under the old Pelican crossing system there was a set time which allowed pedestrians to cross the road. With the Puffin crossing, the time for pedestrians to cross the road can vary as there are detectors set up to extend the crossing time if pedestrians are still crossing. The other main advantage with a Puffin crossing is that if the push button is pressed and the pedestrian walks away, then the demand is cancelled and therefore does not stop vehicles unnecessarily. The two Puffin crossings are not linked because they rely purely on pedestrian demands. If there are no pedestrians, then vehicles will not be stopped.

4.Recent Timing Modifications

4.1There were concerns from Members and local residents about the timings of the Puffins. The green man used to appear for 7 seconds although this has now been changed to 4 seconds. Having observed the crossing in operation, it was felt that a shorter green time is a benefit as the pedestrians have already started to cross before the green man is no longer visible.

4.2After a pedestrian has crossed the crossing and they are not in the line of detection from the on crossing detectors, then the crossing will change to green to vehicles after 3 seconds. There previously was a delay for the above timing but this has now been removed.

4.3Pedestrian waiting time has been reduced from 25 seconds to 15 seconds. It was felt that as these crossing are in a location where there are a large number pedestrians, waiting time should be minimal.

4.4The total crossing time for the pedestrians if the detectors were extended to a maximum time would be 14 seconds. This is the 4 second green man and the 10 second extendible crossing time.

5.Conclusions

5.1 Having monitored the crossings both before and after the above changes, the crossings are now more responsive to both traffic and pedestrians. The delay to the vehicles having green from the pedestrians has been reduced.

5.2 Pedestrians now have a shorter waiting period and the crossing is safer for those less able than others as the crossing time can be extended, where as when they were pelican crossings drivers were going through on the flashing amber.

5.3 It is recommended that these changes be monitored and the impact of the changes be reported back to a future Committee.

JIM BRIGHT

Head of Transportation Services

Background Papers

None

Name and Telephone Number of Officer Contact

Craig Hamilton(01202) 262064

BMB170903T3A

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