Petition to:  Make Pedestrian Crossings Simpler, Safer and More Affordable

We call on the Government to reconsider and accelerate the introduction of simplified pedestrian crossings, including Boardman-style crossings, across England.

Why change is needed

People regularly cross roads on their everyday journeys to schools, shops, bus stops, parks and homes. Yet crossing facilities are often absent, inconvenient or located away from the natural pedestrian desire line.

The answer should not always be expensive, complicated infrastructure. Where it is safe and appropriate, a simple, clearly marked crossing could provide pedestrians with a much more direct and recognisable crossing point.

Boardman-style crossings, originally championed by Chris Boardman, demonstrate how this could work. Simple zebra markings can make pedestrian priority much clearer without necessarily requiring the full infrastructure of a traditional UK zebra crossing.

A significant potential saving

Traditional zebra crossings can cost £30,000–£40,000 or more, depending on the location and work required.

Early estimates for Boardman-style crossings were in the region of hundreds to low thousands of pounds.

Even allowing for site-specific works such as dropped kerbs, tactile paving and drainage, the potential difference is substantial.

If a simpler crossing can safely achieve the required objective at a fraction of the cost, why shouldn't councils have the option to provide more crossings in more places?

The objective is not to reduce safety standards. It is to provide proportionate, safe and accessible solutions, allowing limited highway budgets to benefit far more pedestrians.

This is normal practice in continental Europe

Simple pedestrian crossings across side roads and along established pedestrian routes are very much normal practice across continental Europe.

The UK should be willing to learn from countries where pedestrian priority is routinely incorporated into street design rather than treating every crossing as a major engineering project.

Wales has also moved ahead in enabling simplified side-road zebra crossings, providing England with an opportunity to learn from its experience.

Droitwich examples

In Droitwich Spa, there are a number of locations where pedestrian movement could justify consideration of improved crossing facilities, including:

Hunters Way across Westwood Rd
Around Droitwich Spa High School
Salwarpe Road 
Celvestune Way to Stalls Farm 

Worcester Rd by the BP garage

The bottom of Stalls Farm Road
And other locations where there is regular pedestrian activity.
These are some examples, not a demand for an identical solution at every site. Each location should be assessed for safety, accessibility, traffic speed, visibility and local conditions.

The important point is that where people regularly walk and need to cross, the highway should recognise that need.

We ask the Government to:

Accelerate regulatory changes allowing simplified pedestrian crossings to be used more widely in England.
Consider them not only at side-road junctions, but wherever there is regular pedestrian activity and a clear desire to cross.
Learn from Wales and established continental European practice.
Allow local authorities to use proportionate, lower-cost solutions where they are demonstrably safe and accessible.
Ensure that pedestrians, including children, older people, wheelchair users and people with visual impairments, are fully considered in crossing design.

Our message

We should not make pedestrians risk safety, walk further, wait longer or cross in less convenient places simply because the traditional solution is expensive or unnecessarily complicated.

Where a simple crossing can safely provide clear pedestrian priority, let councils build it.

More crossings, in the right places, can mean safer streets, more walking and better-connected communities — for a fraction of the cost of traditional infrastructure.

We urge the Government to act.