800 dangerous road junctions put lives at risk

More than 400 fail to meet national standards, giving people on foot too little time to cross in safety. About 380 do not have any "green man" facilities, forcing pedestrians to take their chances with the traffic, and an unknown number of "green man" crossings are either missing or broken, says the report by the London Assembly Green Party.

It warns that pedestrians' lives are being put in danger and that without safe crossings, people will be less willing to walk, for example, to work, school or the shops.

Sub-standard crossings blight well-known tourist spots and suburban streets. According to Living Streets, which campaigns for better facilities for pedestrians, some of the worst places are:

Holborn Circus - six roads but only one has a green man crossing.
Piccadilly - five junctions near Green Park Tube are missing green men.
Hanwell - Church Road/Uxbridge Road. No green men on junction serving schoolchildren.
Haringey - Green Lanes/Frobisher Road. Bad layout makes crossing difficult. Heavily used by schoolchildren.

In 1993, walking accounted for nearly 23 per cent of all journeys in the capital. Today, the proportion has fallen to just 21 per cent.

The Greens' report, This City Is Made For Walking, warns that if the decline continues, mainline train services, the Tube and buses will face intolerable strain.

Author Jenny Jones says that by 2025, walking could account for less than a fifth of London's daily journeys, adding more than two million "motorised" trips to the current total.

"Despite being one of the most healthy ways of getting about, walking in London has suffered from long-term under-investment," she says. "By 2025, London will have to accommodate 30.9 million daily trips, 3.7 million more than today. If the city is to keep moving, many of these will need to be made on foot."

Her study reveals that almost half of all pedestrians are unhappy about crossing London's roads. A total of 660 people out of 1,000 supported increased priority for pedestrians and two in three said pavements were in a poor state.

The Greens say London boroughs asked Transport for London for £22million for walking projects for 2007/08. Initially, only £5million was made available, potentially threatening 137 schemes, but when the Greens intervened, another £4.2 million was secured.

The party says funding should rise by £2.5million a year until 2012.

Simon Barnet of Living Streets said: "We need TfL to draw up a priority list of crossings that need attention so we know the extent of the problem." A TfL spokesman said: "During the next three years TfL is spending a record £126million to improve conditions for people on foot."

www.londonlivingstreets.org.uk