Mr. William O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what advice he gives to local authorities on the provision of pelican crossings where the criteria laid down by his Department are marginally above the traffic and road conditions; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he intends to relax the conditions and criteria for the provision of pelican crossings where a community or parish council consider that local conditions demand such a crossing; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. KeyThe current advice given to local authorities is that the provision of crossings should not rest solely on the volumes of vehicles and pedestrians but should also take into account local features. The advice is contained in departmental advice note TA 52/87 "Design Considerations for Pelican and Zebra Crossings". A copy is in the Library. This advice is non-mandatory and it is entirely a matter for local judgment whether crossings can be justified at specific sites. Revised advice will be published this year which will stress the importance of taking a broad range of local factors into account rather than relying on rigid arithmetic factors.