Wembdon Rise Zebra Crossing
There have been safety concerns regarding the zebra crossing at Wembdon Rise for a long time. These concerns increased following an unfortunate incident in September 2021 when a young girl was knocked down whilst using the crossing. In response to these concerns Somerset Council Council has agreed to update the belisha beacons on the crossing, and are in dialogue with the police regarding a reduction of the speed limit on Wembdon Rise to 20 mph. However, they have refused the request for the zebra crossing to be replaced by a traffic light controlled crossing. These are their reasons.
- Demand – in short, the volume of pedestrians requiring to cross the road over a 24 hour period must be significant enough to warrant the installation costs and ongoing maintenance costs of a Traffic Light Controlled Crossing. Although there are 2 daily peak times Monday to Friday during term time associated with school drop off and pick up, this demand would not be the same out of those hours.
- The location is not suited for a Traffic Light Controlled Crossing due to the proximity to Inwood Road junction. There must be a minimum of 20 metres from any junction.
- A zebra gives pedestrians priority over vehicles, effectively slowing down traffic as soon as pedestrians approach the crossing. However the responsibility is on both pedestrian and vehicle to pay attention, (this is also important at a signal controlled crossing).
- More pedestrians can safely move on the footway as they will not have to wait for the lights to change.
- Zebras are less intrusive, reduced energy costs and light pollution.
- Maintenance costs of a signalised crossing would be greater than a zebra and there are more costly component parts involved. These costs increase each year.
