Pedestrian crossings & refuge islands

Pedestrian crossing

For a pedestrian (zebra) crossing to be installed at a particular site, the Traffic Act requires that the site meet certain warrants. Some of the factors include:-

• Actual number of pedestrians
• Volume of traffic
• Speed of traffic passing the site

Pedestrian refuge islands

Pedestrian refuge islands are installed on a busy or wide road to assist pedestrians to cross the road in two stages. This allows pedestrians to concentrate on traffic from one direction at a time.

As refuge islands are not a pedestrian crossing, pedestrians must give way to any traffic and wait for a break before crossing the road.

A pedestrian refuge may be installed in conjunction with a pedestrian crossing, where the two-way traffic volumes or width of the carriageway make the crossing difficult.

A refuge may be installed where numbers of pedestrians wish to cross the road, but the guidelines for the installation of a pedestrian crossing (zebra) are not met.

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