Councils cut pedestrian crossing waiting times to help with social distancing

Councils are shortening the time people wait at pedestrian crossings in an effort to aid social distancing.

Residents in Wiltshire have had the time they wait for the green man at crossings cut in half, from 30 seconds to 15. Wiltshire Council officials hope the move will prevent people from crowding together at roadsides and breaking the two-metre social distancing rule.

The initiative was pioneered in Manchester earlier this month when the city's transport provider said timings at 1,000 signalled crossings were being reduced, with the new average wait time falling from 106 seconds to 87.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said the changes would start in the city centre and be implemented during off-peak times and not at weekends to prevent congestion during busier times.

Richard Dolphin, the highways network performance manager at TfGM, said: "This change was put in place to reflect the current traffic conditions. With much lower traffic volumes on our roads, we can run the signals in a way better suited for pedestrians, without causing any delays for traffic.

"For those who are taking essential journeys on foot, these changes mean people are less likely to group together at pedestrian crossings, helping them keep safe and maintain social distancing."

Wiltshire Council's Bridget Wayman, a cabinet member for highways and transport, said the policy to reduce waiting times for pedestrians would be kept under review in case it led to longer traffic queues.

"As more people walk and cycle to work and for leisure, it's important we do all we can to aid social distancing," she said. "One of the ways we can do this is to change the times on pedestrian crossings throughout the county to keep people on the move.

"These changes will be rolled out over the next few weeks, starting in the larger urban areas, before moving to crossings in villages and other areas. We recognise this may affect traffic flow in certain locations, so we will keep this under review and make changes as necessary."

Wiltshire Council also plans to make "significant changes" to road layouts later this month in order to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians looking to obey the two-metre social rule.

A popular taxi rank in the city centre will be reduced in length to widen the footpath and give pedestrians more space.

London has seen a significant drop-off in the number of people using public transport since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Earlier this month, the capital's Mayor, Sadiq Khan, announced plans to widen pavements for pedestrians and increase the number of cycle routes to ease pressure on buses and trains forced to limit numbers because of coronavirus.

"The capacity of our public transport will be dramatically reduced post-coronavirus as a result of the huge challenges we face around social distancing," Mr Khan said.

"Many Londoners have rediscovered the joys of walking and cycling during lockdown and, by quickly and cheaply widening pavements, creating temporary cycle lanes and closing roads to through traffic we will enable millions more people to change the way they get around our city."