Pedestrian Facilities?

I saw this sign yesterday and it made me wonder: If I saw a person coming toward me on that stretch of road (North Street, just outside Leeds city centre if you must know) looking about them with the trepidation and concern that is natural with the need to cross in rush hour, would I instantly think, “hmm, here’s a pedestrian in need of the nearest facilities; let us locate them together and carry on perambulating in safety”?

I doubt it would be the first thing to pop into my head. The other person is simply walking, trying to make their way about the city in a system based on the needs of car drivers. Pedestrian is one of those words that only make sense by its opposition to other more favourable modes of transport. The implication is pejorative; the other mode of getting about has definite priority. Originally it was the horse, and the Ancient Greeks (according to OED, you’ll have to look it up, my keyboard can’t cope with Ancient Greek) contrasted the plain, prosaic, commonplace, uninspired plodder to the gloriously heroic flights of Pegasus. The Romans probably made things worse, and their word for pedestrian could mean “foot soldier” rather than the more glamourous guys on horseback.

Anybody on foot is a bit rubbish really, and always has been. Look at art; it’s always the guy in the saddle who wins the battle, gets the girls, and has that superior, self-satisfied, all-conquering gleam in his eye as he surveys the trampled corpses of the anonymous and dispensable infantry. And it’s not much different with car advertising – maybe there’s less blood and gore, but that’s because marketing is much less honest than art. You are never going to see a mangled cyclist under the wheels of a 4 by 4. That just wouldn’t sell well.

Still, it’s nice that at least pedestrians have rights nowadays. And facilities. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank whatever government department it is that decreed such facilities in the first place and give a hearty slap on the back to the people who provide our local pedestrian facilities. I do have a couple of observations, however, in the spirit of civic improvement.

Firstly, could we have some better signage? I looked up and down North Street yesterday and was unable to locate the facilities mentioned. I ended up crossing at the traffic lights, which was fine, though waiting for the lights to change on that narrow slip of raised concrete that constitutes the central aisle with buses to the right of me, buses to the left of me, buses in front of me, trolley’d and thundered, made me a bit nervous I have to say.

Secondly, it would be really good if we could have some pedestrian facilities round where I live. I generally walk to town most mornings, and there are a couple of points in the journey where any facility would increase my overall health and happiness immeasurably. One junction is especially tricky. In order to carry on along the main road it’s necessary to cross two smaller slip roads which meet at a point like the legs of a letter “K”. The first road leads into a busy industrial estate; the second to a roundabout onto the M62.

Now, there are some traffic lights on the first crossing. Unfortunately, they are on the opposite side and you have to travel about ten yards down the road to get an adequate view. By the time you have ascertained the state of the traffic and dashed back to the crossing place it is anyone’s guess if the lights have changed. Truck drivers derive inordinate amusement from slamming into gear and hitting the accelerator pedal the moment an unwary pedestrian steps off the curb. The second road has a green man signal and traffic lights that pedestrians can see. The problem here is that there are three feeder roads with three separate sets of lights to keep in mind, and most of the drivers cannot see (or take no notice of) the green man telling a pedestrian it’s safe to cross. The situation is complicated even further by the fact that the majority of drivers seem to believe that telepathy is sufficient indication regarding the imminent direction of their vehicles. Drivers who do understand the purpose and nature of those little orange lights at each corner of their vehicle are rightly annoyed when pedestrians ignore the signal. This is not usually a pedestrian’s fault; motor vehicle manufacturing technology has come up with ingenious gadgetry for reducing emissions of toxic gases, for airbags that save lives, for springier suspension and cleverer brakes, but they do not seem capable of designing an indicator that actually indicates anything under normal conditions on a standard British summers day.

Come to think of it, tackling the indicator problem and teaching drivers the meaning of the word would be the biggest facilitator of pedestrian well-being I could imagine.

Safe journeys everyone, especially if you’re walking.