We are proposing a number of improvements to make road crossings safer.
Changes since the previous consultation
New Parallel Zebra crossing near Nile Street
The existing Pelican crossing at the Nile Street junction needs replacing as it has reached the end of its serviceable life. We are proposing a new Parallel Zebra crossing, relocated to the east of the junction. This will enable us to provide car parking at the widest point of Upper Bristol Road.
Parallel Zebra crossings are for pedestrians and cyclists, and this new one will provide an improved link to and from Nile Street.
Example of a Parallel Zebra Crossing (Copyright: Google)
Proposals that remain the same
Select a topic below to read more about proposals affecting pedestrians from the original consultation.
A continuous footway is a relatively new method of giving people priority over vehicles, where side roads join main roads. The level of the road surface at the junction is raised to the same height as the pavement, with gentle ramps for drivers.
The road surface also changes, to give the appearance that the pavement continues across the entrance of the side road. There are also ‘give way’ lines to show vehicles they have to give way to people crossing.
The government recently announced forthcoming changes to the Highway Code which will make it clearer that drivers have to give way to pedestrians who are crossing a side road junction.
We will provide continuous footways at each of the side road junctions with Upper Bristol Road within the scheme, except at Marlborough Lane and Little Stanhope Street. This is because these junctions experience heavier traffic, including frequent buses, which means they are less suitable for continuous footways. However, at the Little Stanhope Street junction, we will be improving the dropped crossings.
We are proposing to widen the pavements on both sides of the junction. This will narrow the road and slow down traffic that is turning in, making it easier and safer for pedestrians to cross.
There is currently a ‘splitter island’ at this point of Upper Bristol Road. The purpose of this to separate opposing flows of traffic and prevent vehicles turning the wrong way into Monmouth Place. People currently use this to help them cross the busy road, even though it was not designed for this purpose.
We would replace this splitter island with a ‘pedestrian refuge island’. This is designed specifically as a crossing point and is fully accessible, unlike the existing island. There would be dropped kerbs on the pavement on both sides of the road, and a suitable place to wait within the island.
View our detailed plans for pedestrians in our previous consultation.