What does the Global Street Design Guide say?

Created with expert inputs from 72 cities in 42 countries, the Global Street Design Guide is an authoritative document on road safety, offering technical details on design that prioritises pedestrians and cyclists.

Here’s what it says on pedestrian crossings

- At-Grade Pedestrian Crossings: Unless connections are required across limited access highways, heavy rail lines, or natural features, pedestrian crossings should be provided at the same level as the street.

- Elevated crossings unnecessarily increase walking distances and times, take up valuable sidewalk space, and cost up to 20 times the price of at-grade signalised crossings.

- Provide level crossings every 80–100 m at minimum. If it takes a person more than three minutes to walk to a pedestrian crossing, he or she may decide to cross along a more direct, but unsafe or unprotected, route.

- Pedestrian overpasses and underpasses take up sidewalk space, dramatically increase walking distance, and are frequently avoided by pedestrians in favour of a more direct crossing. They are very expensive and need regular maintenance to keep them clean and safe. In many cases, they are underutilised and poorly maintained. By removing pedestrians from the natural surveillance of the street, they raise personal safety issues.

- Where vehicle speeds are above 30 kmph and pedestrian volumes and crossing demands are moderate to high, provide signalised crossings to support a safe walking environment.

- Intersection crossings should be kept as compact as possible, facilitating eye contact by moving pedestrians directly into the driver’s field of vision.