Forum Topic

Traffic Lights

I have complained on another thread about not being able see the Green or Red Man on the traffic lights when I am trying to cross PHS and large vehicle is blocking my view.  I think these traffic lights in the photo below would really help pedestrians trying to cross our busy high street.  What do others think?

Martine Guy ● 59d44 Comments

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/know-your-traffic-signs/pedestrian-cycle-and-equestrian-crossingsJust in case you haven't seen this.I note there is mention of checking that the way is clear ie not just that the lights are in your favour.

Philippa Bond ● 1d

The danger with traffic lights is that vehicle users become fixated by the lights and forget that they can only proceed when the road is clear forgetting that there may be pedestrians still crossing the road.  It definitely is NOT their road if it isn't clear and safe to proceed!Re: Part of Ed's post on the Conga thread:"The pedestrian crossing near Waitrose in East Sheen has oddly two sets of red/green men. One set where you press the button and another set a few centimetres above the first set. Not sure why they need two sets so close and pointing in the same direction. I try and nab a photo next time."Don't they set buttons so that they can be reached by wheelchair users?  On some crossings there are buttons (or used to be) underneath so that you get an audible signal as well.

Philippa Bond ● 9d

While I fully accept that motorists laying across pedestrian crossings when the pedestrian phase is both anti-social and potentially dangerous, there are probably good reasons why it is not subject to fines. If it was enforced in a similar sort of way to yellow junction boxes, drives might be disinclined to stop even if people were crossing in front of them in order to avoid a fine.

Peter Higgins ● 16d

Clifford Avenue, half way down, between URR West And LRR, there are Toucan Lights.  On each side of the road there are 3 lights at pedestrian level.  Two on one lamppost and one on another (6 in total). These are called Toucan lights, so that Two Can cross the road at the same time, ie pedestrians and cyclists. I expect the lights are lower down the lamppost so that mothers with younger children going to the playground close by, have a clear view of the green man.  Also for the many cyclists who, unfortunately for pedestrians, seem to use the pavements of Clifford Avenue to cycle on.

Martine Guy ● 20d

For that sort of things you can report to the Council through the app FixMyStreet, they are actually quite good at everything related to traffic signs (a few days), littering and hazards, a bit slower (weeks-months) regarding potholes.Worth a try

Marc Blanchard ● 26d

Why do we have traffic lights, was crossing at the top of Chelverton Rd. Clearly we could cross, a lady took no notice, would have ridden into me. I stood there with my legs apart and my arms, so she could not pass me, she did not intend to stop. But as I made it impossible for her to pass me, I shouted why didn't you stop it's a green light, she said I've stop haven't I. What did she do when I moved kept on cycling.

Barbara Stevens ● 27d

Ed, I had a walk up to the Dyers Lane this afternoon and I think you are right in that it could be a  Puffin crossing on URR.  I think they aren’t identical and maybe there are different types. Where it is obviously different is that there was one light high up and another at waist level on the Puffin crossing I saw in Berkshire.  This is what I want on PHS, then pedestrians would have an unobstructed view of the Green/Red man light on the pavement they are waiting on.  No having to guess what the lights on the other side of the road are indicating.

Martine Guy ● 28d

I agree but a few additional thoughts.- Blocking a pedestrian crossing is an offence. I do not understand why TFL fine motorists who block box junctions, which is merely inconvenient, whilst blocking pedestrian crossing can be dangerous but never seems to be prosecuted.- I realise that the reason for this behaviour is often that other motorists use the left hand lane, which is indicated as left turn only sneak straight across and motorists may think they will never get across unless they make progress across the crossing. I think if this was prevented fewer vehicles would block the crossing- one option would be to have clear signage that left lane is for turning only and make it clear that that offenders will be fined. Alternatively make the stretch between the bus stop and the lights a bus lane with a small left turn box by the junction. This might work given motorists seem to obey bus lanes-

John Bradescu ● 30d

That's just unhelpful polemic. A knee jerk reaction to every tragedy will lead to a reduction in road safety. At least wait for the coroner's report before rushing to judgement.

Barry Elms ● 30d

"TfL says it remains committed to its Vision Zero goal – eliminating all deaths and serious injuries on London’s transport network by 2041. But in this report, it has effectively ignored the death of a pedestrian at a crossing already known to be unsafe. If Vision Zero means anything, it must start with this: when someone dies, we act."https://putney.news/2025/09/11/she-died-where-tfl-promised-action-now-theyre-doing-nothing/

Ed Robinson ● 38d

I think the crossing near Dryers Lane is a Puffin Crossing.A bit useless because you have to wait so long many just give up and it then changes a few minutes later when noone is there.There seems to be little attention from the Mayor to pedestrians.

Ed Robinson ● 38d

I get really fed up when I cross the road at the end of Chelverton and the bikes just continue going with out stopping.

Barbara Stevens ● 45d

Ideally we would have TFL controlled bikes with proper incentives to park correctly. That will not happen.Tibbet's Roundabout - Telegraph Road - Putney Park Lane is an old school walk of mine, still relatively cycle free as the surface is not good on Putney Park Lane.

Ed Robinson ● 45d

From the front page it looks as if the council realises there's a problem with abandoned hire bikes. Whether any good will come of that, who knows

Elizabeth Balsom ● 46d

Totally agree, Elizabeth.  
I nearly posted about what I consider to be the worst walk in Putney:  thought I’d try a new route  to get some steps in, walking from Tibbetts Corner to the Cemetery.  Never again because of the pavement cyclists.  I know they want to avoid the busy road but it is a pavement.  One cyclist apologised because he made me jump out my skin when he cycled up behind me.  That’s the first and last time I will ever walk that route.

Martine Guy ● 50d

Martine, I think pedestrians deserve better all round. On Thursday I wanted to walk down Parkfields from Howards Lane. A Forest electric bike was sprawled upright across the pavement. I had to walk into the road to get round it. There was no space on the pavement.

Elizabeth Balsom ● 50d

https://www.wandsworth.gov.uk/news/news-july-2025/more-improvements-coming-to-putney-bridge-junction/Motor traffic has increased in London right now as many have returned from holiday as school terms are starting and weather has changed.  If you read the article above it seems that other roadworks which are due to finish in the next few months are contributing to this.There will be some people who are perhaps easier to consult regarding their views and use of crossings than others.  It doesn't mean that we now have all the best crossings or solutions though.  Crossings need to be safer for ALL pedestrians and changes and tweaking should always be thought about and thought through again to improve them.  The vociferous majority can't and shouldn't always get the most attention.

Philippa Bond ● 51d

I believe there are problems with Puffin crossings and that they can cause confusion for some pedestrians.  However, I know I would prefer any green man signal rather than none at all and having to guess if it’s safe to cross. Another thing that happens to me at that Norroy Rd/PHS junction is that if I can’t see the green man, I try to look at the traffic signals intended for cars to see if they are red or green.  If you are right by them, it’s impossible to see the colour of the lights, so you have to move back and then look up.  Why is it so difficult to cross the road at this particular Pelican crossing? I think Putney pedestrians deserve better.

Martine Guy ● 51d

Thank you, Martine.  That sounds really excellent.

Ivonne Holliday ● 51d

Sorry Ivonne, I probably didn’t explain well.  If you are on the pavement waiting to cross, the green man light is on the same pavement as you.  Therefore you are not looking across the road to see the green man. Also, the Puffin crossing green man is positioned lower down than on a Pelican crossing, so it can seen easier by wheelchair users and children.

Martine Guy ● 51d

Hello Martine,Your suggestion is very good indeed.  However, I cannot see how these lights would help if there is a lorry or bus blocking it....  Those traffic lights would be great only if the problems on PHS are solved as a matter of urgency.  I am not trying to be negative about your suggestion though.

Ivonne Holliday ● 51d

You can have fun here interacting with the online chat facility.https://www.highwaycodeuk.co.uk/rules-for-pedestrians-crossings.html

Philippa Bond ● 51d

Thanks PhilippaI guess it's a matter of yet again sharpening the quill pen!But if we don't complain I suppose these representatives don't know how concerned, not to say frightened, people are

Elizabeth Balsom ● 52d

https://www.healthystreetsscorecard.london/crossings-and-junctionswww.london.gov.ukLeonie Cooper is your GLA representativeCaroline Russell is a GLA representative very concerned with walking and cyclingWill Norman is the walking and cycling tsar:  willnorman@tfl.gov.uk

Philippa Bond ● 53d

I agree, Elizabeth. And I had also wondered about the recent fatality on URR East Putney.

Martine Guy ● 53d

I wonder if there has been any  information about the cause of the pedestrian fatality on the URR crossing near East Putney  station.Another dangerous place is the large crossing at the junction of the High St and URR. Buses going towards the river squeeze across blocking the view of the pedestrian light and leaving no room for anyone to cross.  Unless you're brave enough to creep around the rear of the bus and hope no vehicle going east along URR hits you.But it's ridculous that pedestrians are afraid to cross a road on a crossing where they should be safe. They're not dashing into the middle of heavy traffic.What are our respresentatives doing!

Elizabeth Balsom ● 53d

I'm honestly surprised there has not been a fatality at that crossing. A gap just before the lights change and vehicles accelerate to fill it.Where are our local representatives on these crossings?

Ed Robinson ● 53d

As I said on the other thread, it must be difficult for mothers with prams and young children who want to cross the road at this location.  I wouldn’t want to have to work out if it was my turn to cross because that’s what you have to do when the traffic is congested here and you can’t see the green man. We need clearly visibly signals at this junction.  It shouldn’t  be down to making a guess.

Martine Guy ● 53d

The other thing to consider is there is I believe no specific offence if a vehicle in traffic blocks a pedestrian crossing.Yellow boxes, bicycle boxes yes, but not the actual crossing. The yellow box at the junction together with the traffic light sequencing (not to mention the poorly signed and not inforced left turn only lane on PHS into Norroy Road) actually encourages the crossing to be blocked.

Ed Robinson ● 53d

Usual problem at the crossing today.  I was crossing from the Disraeli side to Norroy side of PHS.  Stood on the section in the middle of the road, the 14 bus was completely obstructing the green man signal.  I missed one chance to cross and had to keep looking backwards to see when the Disraeli Rd traffic was moving across PHS to know it was my turn to cross. I think it ridiculous TFL stopped installing Puffin Lights.  One size doesn’t fit all and each crossing should be judged on its own location.

Martine Guy ● 54d

The way that I have seen drivers driving more recently has meant that I have really been questioning whether traffic lights were really actually safer than zebra crossings.I have seen and heard so many cars being raced to get through the lights before they change and mopeds and cycles being raced to overtake queues of cars stopped at lights.  These road users are fixating on the high level traffic lights. Little or no thought is being given to the most vulnerable road users - pedestrians - actually waiting at the side on the road and oftenout of sight and depending on the lights changing so they can cross.

Philippa Bond ● 55d

The old system was creaking putting extra load on it may have been very risky."This ground-breaking hosted solution is now managing and controlling all of London’s 5,500 traffic signal sites, replacing TfL’s existing system.  "Numbers look odd, I think they are referring to the centrally controlled crossings/sites not all TFL crossings which there are many more:"There are 3384 standalone signalised pedestrian crossings operated by TfL in London"https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-2346-2223

Ed Robinson ● 56d

Thanks, Ed. Looking at the Yunex press release, one would imagine the claimed adaptiveness of the new system would be more than capable of coping with Puffin crossings …https://www.yunextraffic.com/newsroom/urban-traffic-control-solution-live-across-london

Michael Ixer ● 56d

There are definitely a few Pelican crossings around but I would have to check where they are when I get back from hols.It's 2025 put a couple of red/green men on either side. It adds to the general feeling that London has become backwards as the world moves forward and London's infrastructure is either poorly provisioned or poorly maintained.When I was at school a lot of London's traffic lights were controlled by a central computer. Some recent news that they are being migrated but I suspect many are just controlled locally at junction level as adding them to the old existing infrastructure would be  With very little traffic on some roads it is a huge annoyance and danger that you have to wait ages for some crossing to change with many giving up only for it to change later when noone is there.The TFL page doesn't say what percentage are controlled centrally.https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2024/june/tfl-and-yunex-successfully-complete-world-leading-upgrade-to-london-s-traffic-signal-system

Ed Robinson ● 56d

Thanks, Martine. A simpler reason than my guess! I agree, the Puffin crossings seem preferable. No reason they couldn't have a second reen indicator in the same place as Pelican crossings?

Michael Ixer ● 56d

Michael, I haven’t seen any around London either.  I googled Puffin lights in London and hoped it would tell me where they are located.  Anyway Wikipedia says this: ”In 2014, Transport for London announced that they would stop installing Puffins, saying that “Pedestrians have previously indicated to us that they dislike the uncertainty of not knowing whether the ‘green man’ is still lit once they have started crossing which happens with nearside signals”. I do not agree, as there are times I cannot see the green man at all.  At the Norroy Rd/Disraeli Rd junction with PHS, they could put the green/red man lights on both PHS pavements plus on the waiting area in the middle of the road.  I think it would be a big improvement on what’s there at the moment.

Martine Guy ● 56d

When using a Puffin crossing recently I began thinking that I frequently encounter these outside London but I'm not sure I've come across any/many in London. I wondered if this was because lights in central London (I'm not sure of the exact extent) are controlled by a central computer system that - in theory - coordinates them and switches the sequence of vehicle red/amber/green lights and pedestrian red/green/flashing-green across all the lights as determined by several programmes for different traffic conditions. I wondered if the randomness that would be introduced by the Puffin local sensors introducing various extensions or reductions in crossing times would interfere with the programmes, and I guess, as the system is geared to pushing out instructions from the central programme to the lights, there'd be no way of feeding these variations back into the system to make real-time adjustments to the programmes to take ino account these variances?I might be completely wrong, and someone will point out loads of Puffin crossings in London; it was just a thought?

Michael Ixer ● 56d

Yes,I only make it across as the time signal is counting down to 2 or 3When I was taught to drive, admittedly back in 1962, my driving instructor said at pedestrian crossings (only the Belisha Beacon type back then) said I must wait until the pedestrian reached the pavement before driving on. No to drive behind them while they were still on the crossing as sometimes they changed their mind and turned back.But that was another age and another world

Elizabeth Balsom ● 59d

Hello MartineAs an avid walker I hope you are going to go further with this.  There is a Walking & Cycling Csar at TfL and also your GLA Member may help.It is also disturbing to read that there are people who struggle to cross the roads in the amount of time given by the crossings with a countdown.  Whatever happened to drivers expecting to and waiting until pedestrians have reached the other side?    walking@tfl.gov.uk may help as may Leonie Cooper who is the GLA Member for Wandsworth. I have another email somewhere for the Walking & Cycling Csar (if he's still there).

Philippa Bond ● 59d

Thanks for this info, Ed.  I think that the Council should bring in this Puffin Crossing on PHS by Disraeli/Norroy Rds.   Are there any Puffin Crossings in Putney?  If so, where?

Martine Guy ● 59d

I think they are called Puffin Crossings.A box with a green/red man near those that are crossing with indicates if safe to cross.Why are they not standard on all crossings - it is 2025?It is shocking the amount of money spent on PHS and basic things such as crossings lights and road sensors were not part of the plan.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puffin_crossing

Ed Robinson ● 59d

Thanks Elizabeth and Michael. I understand that these low level lights help wheelchair users and children. We’ve been visiting Berkshire today and seen them in two locations.  Never seen them before, but I thought they were such a good idea because they face pedestrians on one side of the pavement.  Also I wondered, as they can be seen so easily, if they might slow down or stop some of the cyclists who go carry on through the lights.  

Martine Guy ● 59d

I agree, Martine, but I've got so used to lookup for the "green man" that I've been known to miss the pedestrian cycle on those signs with it to the side ar waist level! :-)

Michael Ixer ● 59d

I agree Martine, particulaly the crossing at Disraeli Rd and the High St

Elizabeth Balsom ● 59d