Raised entry treatments introduced on side roads across London have reduced pedestrian collisions and overall numbers of crashes at junctions with a casualty problem.
But introducing the areas of block paving on the carriageway flush with the footway to make crossing easier for pedestrians has led to increases in motorcycle and vehicle collisions on Transport for London’s network. The findings are from the first detailed study of the impact of the treatments following the installation of hundreds on side roads when the capital’s red routes were created in the late 1990s. Comparing data on collisions in the three years before and three years after installation reveals a 20% cut in crashes involving pedestrians at 777 sites on TfL’s network, and a 9% reduction in the numbers of pedestrians killed or seriously injured.
But there was no change in the number of collisions overall, giving the researchers the confidence to state: ‘Installing a side road entry treatment on the TfL network would not be expected to change the collision rate.’
This was despite the fact that an analysis of road user behaviour at a sample of sites highlighted how pedestrians were less likely to look for turning vehicles after the treatments were introduced. But the study suggests that the treatments have made the junctions more dangerous for some road users. There was a 66% increase in powered two-wheeler crashes above the underlying trend, and an 18% increase in accidents involving a turning vehicle, mainly involving motorists turning right into a side road.
There were bigger accident reduction benefits at 275 junctions on London borough roads, where the total number of collisions was slashed by 20%. Borough sites were introduced to help tackle a specific casualty problem, while the 777 TfL ones were installed as a blanket policy, prompting TRL to conclude: ‘The routine treatment of all junctions on sections of the TfL route network has not been as successful in reducing collisions as has the [boroughs’] more targeted approach.’

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