Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Hutt City Council has been presented with a Golden Foot award for the first New Zealand trial of the ‘Puffin’ pedestrian crossing.
The Puffin trial took out the top award in the accessibility innovation category of Living Streets Aotearoa’s new national walking awards.
The industry awards recognise inventive projects, facilities and practises which benefit pedestrians and aid walking in New Zealand.
“Winning a Golden Foot award is a wonderful achievement and it’s great to see our commitment to innovation and improving pedestrian safety in Hutt City recognised,” says Hutt City Council CEO Tony Stallinger.
Results from the trial on Railway Ave show pedestrians are more likely to cross safely and at the right time on a Puffin crossing compared with conventional crossing signals.
Note:
Puffins (Pedestrian User Friendly Intelligent Crossings) are used widely in the UK and in some states in Australia. They have the ‘red and green man’ signal on the near side rather than the far side of the road. This means pedestrians waiting to cross have to look to their right and into the face of the approaching traffic. They are also easier for partially sighted pedestrians to see.
Puffins use only a green man signal meaning ‘cross now’ and a solid red man signal meaning ‘wait’. This eliminates the confusing ‘flashing red man’ signal that leads many pedestrians to enter the roadway at the wrong time on traditional crossings.
For further information, contact senior traffic engineer Wayne King on 570 6944 or 027 286 6237.