Zebra crossings on the cheap

[pshore]

My village could do with a whole load more zebras to make it easier to walk and cycle with children but I've seen the local parish budget and it doesn't stretch very far. The village is about two miles long has has two zebras and one pedestrian reserve.

It led me to wondering if it was possible to throw down some painted stripes on the road at minimal cost ? They have a lot of crossings like these in French towns.

Are there any existing examples out there that work well without speed bumps ?

I can see that there are a whole load of safety implications, especially at night which is probably why they don't exist in the UK.

 

[ianrauk]

I don't think your local council would be too pleased. They would probably charge you for the cleaning. And the Police would arrest you for defacement of some sort.

 

[slowmotion]

DIY looks pretty attractive financially......

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...nd-boggling-114-000-build-zebra-crossing.html

 

[Zoiders]

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/137

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/66/section/132

 

[Richard Mann]

Markings have to be in line with regulations, but colour/texture can be whatever you like.

So you can do an "informal" crossing that's just a sort of thick brick-coloured paint with a brick pattern pressed into it.

Sorry - not the greatest of photos!

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en...0h3_opyduG8xxyAFKS6CDA&cbp=12,264.15,,1,24.83

 

[pshore]

I don't think your local council would be too pleased. They would probably charge you for the cleaning. And the Police would arrest you for defacement of some sort.

I didn't have DIY in mind but having seen the £115k one it could be tempting. Hmm, a flash mob armed with chalk could get a quick result.

My thought process was that I can think of at least four places where zebra crossings would be handy, but if I went to the parish council it will be very quickly shot down due to cost (unless they could source funding from another budget).

The £115k zebra slowmotion posted is my worst fear in terms of costs. We have this crazy British trait of adding so much red tape and requirements we end up with nothing rather than something.

I was imagining something more like this streetview in France which happens to be the twin village of mine.

 

[pshore]

Markings have to be in line with regulations, but colour/texture can be whatever you like.

So you can do an "informal" crossing that's just a sort of thick brick-coloured paint with a brick pattern pressed into it.

Sorry - not the greatest of photos!

http://maps.google.c...264.15,,1,24.83

Yeah, they have some of that style going in on shared use cycle paths near me where they cross no-through residential streets. Are they ever used on less residential (larger) roads ?

The locations I have in mind are a mix of larger roads: a residential through road with a school in the middle; a minor road that links villages; and a reasonably busy B road running though the spine of the village.

Any other examples of less formal crossings would be useful.

 

[Richard Mann]

I was imagining something more like this streetview in France which happens to be the twin village of mine.

You can't do those, no (nor can you do the laws/culture that support pedestrian priority on them).

If you do a textured informal crossing on a busier road, it will just wear out quicker, that's all. If it's fairly low speed, mostly cars, and not much turning, it should last a fair while.

The give way markings and/or hump triangles should last a bit better anyway.

 

[marinyork]

Any other examples of less formal crossings would be useful.

There are loads and loads of them in the UK. They tend to be along the lines of perhaps a couple of posts, maybe a tactile surface and red paint across the road.

 

[snorri]

t led me to wondering if it was possible to throw down some painted stripes on the road at minimal cost ?

I've never seen any economy crossings on public roads, it's either the full works or nothing at all.

 

[pshore]

Oh dear, this is all rather depressing. It descends very quickly into complicated road design that is beyond me that seems quite expensive.

I've just discovered and have been reading Manual for Streets, which has some great info btw, but it is rather like looking at Dutch cycle path and saying "one of those please".

Ideally, I can see a design that slows traffic and then allows for more informal crossings but then that conflicts with bus routes and the occasional truck that go through the village.

I think my best position is to keep reading for a bit, then spell out the problems and try to get some sort of long term term plan out of the local councillors.

 

[marinyork]

Oh dear, this is all rather depressing. It descends very quickly into complicated road design that is beyond me that seems quite expensive.

I wouldn't get too depressed. In my experience what tends to happen (on rather larger authorities) is that councils/budgets say no this'll cost a fortune. Seen this quite a few times over the years. Then at some point in the future when they know people want a crossing and they've said no, the money magically appears from somewhere and gets built eventually. Had this round here where two zebra crossings got put in the last 6 months with various shouts of no.

I wouldn't get too bogged down in unofficial crossings either, they are common.

 

[pshore]

I wouldn't get too depressed. In my experience what tends to happen (on rather larger authorities) is that councils/budgets say no this'll cost a fortune. Seen this quite a few times over the years. Then at some point in the future when they know people want a crossing and they've said no, the money magically appears from somewhere and gets built eventually. Had this round here where two zebra crossings got put in the last 6 months with various shouts of no.

I wouldn't get too bogged down in unofficial crossings either, they are common.

OK, thanks for the advice. I think I'll stay away from attempting to design any solutions but stick to requesting and asking questions.

There is a constant threat of a new housing development to the north of us. I suspect it will go through one day but there will be S106 money to deal with the increased traffic through our village.

Slightly related:
The other week I was having a conversation with a man from the council re a cycle path in another village but we also talked about a signalled crossing. To decide if a crossing should be put in, the process is that they count the number of peds crossing to see if there is a need. It seemed rather chicken and egg to me though - if you make it hard for people to walk or cycle to the centre of their village, a proportion will just pop to shops in their car instead and you won't count them.

 

[sheddy]

Sorry if its already been mentioned but the roadwitch street in Oxford had a go with the co-operation of the council http://www.roadwitch.org.uk/

Look for the Beech road link

 

[pshore]

Sorry if its already been mentioned but the roadwitch street in Oxford had a go with the co-operation of the council http://www.roadwitch.org.uk/

Look for the Beech road link

Thanks for the link Sheddy, I really enjoyed reading about it. I seem to be reading more and more about people reclaiming their streets from cars which is great news. The seeds of a revolution perhaps.