Was Ayr’s ‘Experimental Crossing’ experiment a failed experiment?

You’ll find a few posts in here, made when I first spotted an odd road crossing near Ayr’s Carnegie Library, just after the New Bridge.

This will find most of them Ayr’s Experimental Crossings

In those posts I expressed a number of concerns, not because a new system was being tried, but because there was absolutely NO INFORMATION provided, and no guidance for users.

In fact, the only way I found out anything at all was to address emails to the local council.

Since then, I discovered more of these systems, one on St Leonard’s Road, near the level crossing on Belmont Road, and another on the first roundabout after Prestwick, at Prestwick Airport. I have no idea if there are/were more, those are just places I happened to be, and noticed them while I was there.

All anonymous and unmarked, with no road marking for drivers, or instructions/guidance nearby for pedestrians.

It’s almost as if someone WANTED this to be a failure, or just didn’t care

Vandalism seem to have been the main observable result, with the flashing amber lights being attacked. These were already missing in some cases when I first saw these crossing, have deteriorated further, and have never been repair (at least not the last time I saw then a few months ago).

This was the Carnegie installation recently (the only one I can really photograph easily).

Note the amber lights that alert drivers of people crossing, detected by the presence detectors. Oh! You can’t, most have been pulled off the poles.

I gave up trying to find out any more about this, or if there was any official report, and decided to hand it over to an AI search tool.

It worked, interestingly (or alarmingly) apparently finding all the same negative comments I had made about the system months ago. I wonder if it’s just regurgitating my comments, which may be the ONLY info it could find online!

In recent years, an experimental road crossing system was indeed installed near the Carnegie Library in Ayr. Here are some key details about this initiative:

System Overview

• Location: The crossing system is situated on New Bridge Road, adjacent to the Carnegie Library.
• Technology: It features presence sensor-controlled lights. These sensors detect pedestrians and activate flashing amber lights to alert drivers.

Community Feedback

• Uncertainty: Many local users have expressed confusion regarding the operation of these lights. There are no clear road markings or signage indicating the rules associated with this crossing, which has led to uncertainty for both pedestrians and drivers.
• Drivers’ Reactions: Observations indicated varied responses from drivers; some yielded to pedestrians, while others continued without stopping.

Concerns Raised

• Safety Issues: The lack of markings and clear instructions can pose safety risks, as pedestrians are unsure when it’s safe to cross.
• Vandalism: There have been reports of damage to the lighting system, suggesting that the infrastructure might not be very robust.

Conclusion

This experimental crossing aims to enhance pedestrian safety but has faced criticism for its execution and lack of clarity. The project appears to be part of a broader trial of non-standard roadway technologies, but further communication and guidance for users may be necessary for it to achieve its intended goals.

I don’t think there’s anything I can add, after my initial observations ages ago.

Other than to comment on the joke amber lighting installed on the poles – lightweight materials and wiring that a child could have pulled off with their hands, and probably did.

Although I suspect some people might want to know what it all cost, who got the money, and if anything came of it.

More mysterious experimental pedestrian crossings discovered in Ayr

When my enquiries about a non-standard pedestrian crossing found outside Ayr’s Carnegie Library brought little more information than that it was an experimental installation, I assumed (wrongly, as it would later be found) it was the only one, since no other information was offered by the local council’s respondent.

There’s a detailed set of pics in this post, written later.

At the time, a mind-numbing period of searching online produced no further information about it, as the web is understandably saturated with information about existing official road crossing systems, rules, and regulations. Trying to find out about non-standard systems proved to be an exercise in futility. One I don’t feel motivated to repeat – so don’t know if this situation regarding info has since changed.

Since that initial discovery, I’ve come across two more of these installations, neither of which had any signs or instructions for pedestrians who might encounter them.

I may be wrong, but it seems a major omission, and even a safety issue, that these crossings have no clarification or guidance as to their legal standing, or what priorities they do, or more importantly do not, grant to road users on foot, or in vehicles.

Do pedestrians have any right of way once the lights have been triggered and are flashing?

Do drivers have any requirement to give way or stop to pedestrians crossing once these lights have been triggered? There are no road markings, such as at a zebra crossing with flashing amber lights or Belisha beacons.

Uncertainly is not a good thing at a road crossing.

Belmont Crossing

I found this one as I walked to Belmont, at the junction where St Leonards Road become Maybole Road, just after the level crossing on Belmont Road, where it becomes Ewenfield Road.

From past pics of the location, this seems to have been installed in 2023.

Prestwick Airport perimeter road

I spotted this one at night, from the X77 Glasgow/Ayr express coach, thanks to the effective lighting of the signs used in this crossing. It’s at the end of Station Road where it meets the A79 at a large roundabout at the western end of the runway.

Same timescale as before, with no sign of this crossing on pics prior to 2023.

Pics not great through the coach window (which means I can only catch one side), but I’m definitely not local enough to be able to get anything better (easily). The fight was with a coach lurching around a bend, potholes, two sheets of glass at an angle (the coach has double glazing), and a fairly heavily tinted plastic security film. It’s almost impossible to see inside the coach if standing outside.

Ayr’s experimental crossing – STILL no details

I took these pics some months ago, shortly after coming across this crossing in Ayr.

Find it near the Carnegie Library, at the corner of Main Street and North Harbour Road, in front of the entrance to the former Darlington Place Church which was, for a time after its ecclesiastical use came to an end, home to the Borderline Theatre Company (now c/o Gaiety Theatre, Carrick Street).

By coincidence, I can now date this feature as I found a pic from July 2023, showing the power box installed on the footway, but the poles were not. This led to more pics, showing the central refuge, light, and drop kerbs were NOT installed as part of this crossing, but were appeared some time between 2015 and 2016, if the pic dates are accurate.

I had hoped that some more detailed information would have been published online about these crossings (recall I have also found one installed on a roundabout on the perimeter road at Prestwick Airport), but despite repeated searched online since first finding then towards the end of 2023, I have yet to find anything related to them, either as local news informing residents, or as a general notice regarding their installation and testing on public roads.

I find that odd – how do you carry out experiments on such items without informing the general public, telling people what the installation is, and inviting comment?

That’s just hardware evaluation.

Anyway, I can’t wait any longer for something official to appear, so I’m dumping my pics in the blog, with a few notes of my own.

Feel free to offer corrections,

This is a general view of the crossing as seen looking towards New Bridge and the town.

Recall the drop kerbs, central refuge, and light have been in place since 2015/2016 – only the poles with the sensors, lights, and exclamation mark signs were added in 2023.

The new crossing added the two poles on the extreme left and right of the pic, carrying a bunch of ‘presence sensors’ and interface boxes at the top, with the illuminated exclamation mark signs roughly halfway down the poles, and pairs of flashing amber lights below.

The flashing amber lights are triggered when the presence sensors detect people on the footway. I’m not sure if they have logic to detect if they are moving, then stopped at the kerb, or if traffic is approaching.

There seems to be cameras, looking across the road for people, and radar, looking for approaching traffic.

I had assumed there were also PIRs (passive infra-red) to detect people standing at the kerb, but I can’t see any sensors, and have revised that thought to assume the camera looking towards the central refuge is also covering the kerb on the opposite side of the road, and detecting people standing there, or walking past.

Whatever the method, it does seem to be fairly good at sensing those intending to cross.

This power box appeared in 2023, adjacent to one of the poles which arrived later.

It would be interesting to know how they run wiring to the base of the poles – note extensive digging to install the box and run power to it, but no digging to either of the poles, which seem to be able to be connected without digging.

One of the sensor boxes, plus sensors.

Vision system camera at top, looking across the road for people, phased array radar looking along the road for traffic.

I really expected a PIR below, to detect warm bodies and confirm (with the vision system) live people below, but I’ve enhanced the image, and there are only cables glands.

This view shows the boxes have a wireless connection.

A look at the intriguing illuminated exclamation mark signs, from the side, showing how thin they are, and the amount of loose wiring behind – and how cable are connected directly into their backs.

I have to assume they are using some sort of flat backlit LED technology for their illumination.

Irritatingly, I haven’t been able to come up with an exact match, but did find details of one manufacturer who has the same flat panel. Their specifications show the design uses internal LED edge lighting of an acrylic sheet with a retro reflective micro prismatic sign face. Now we know :-)

Unfortunately, there seems to have been some sort of incident, or someone took a dislike to the amber lights.

Ayrshire’s experimental pedestrian crossings

I find these crossing to be a little bit irritating – there is another to be found on one of the roundabouts on the road to Monkton, on the perimeter of Prestwick Airport.

Not, I hasten to add for their presence, but the apparent absence of any information about them being placed online, either in websites belonging to the relevant road authorities, or even just some related blog (other than this one, of course).

I couldn’t find anything last year, when I first came across this crossing, nor can I find anything as I write this follow-up post, months later.

The only reason I know anything about them is because I contacted the local authority.

There are no instructions, or information for users, either on foot, or on the road, so nobody really knows what to do.

Pedestrians who approach it via the drop kerb are rewarded with automatic presence detection, and flashing amber lights, directed towards the traffic but, unlike a controlled crossing, or zebra crossing, drivers are largely taken by surprise. They usually stop for any actually on the road and crossing, but don’t give way to anyone waiting to cross, and who has triggered the lights.

I see many pedestrians just cross BESIDE this crossing, thereby NOT triggering the presence detectors, so no amber lights.

While I’m NOT commenting on the crossing or its concept, those behind it seem to have missed something essential – there’s not much chance of evaluating the usefulness of an idea if you just throw it at people, and don’t give them some clues – especially if it involves legal rules, and road crossing at least require guidance from the Highway Code, which generally relies on specific laws for it

After almost a year, I think I should be able to find some documentation or guidance online about these crossings.

Pedestrian needs to know, drivers need to know.

What are these new crossing lights in Ayr?

I almost missed these ‘presence sensor’ controlled lights recently installed on Ayr’s New Bridge Road, approximately in the area between the former Darlington Place Church, and the Carnegie Library.

They weren’t there a few months ago, when I was last here, as I paused at this spot to collect some pics of the library.

In use, there appear to be a number of sensors located at the top of the footpath poles, apparently able to detect people, and flash the amber light which face both directions of traffic flow.

It’s a bit of a mystery (to me, at least).

The island, drop kerbs, light, signs, and paint, have been there since 2016.

These new, automatic, flashing (small and not very bright in daylight) amber lights do not appear to follow any rules in the Highways Code. I looked there, as there does not appear to be any identification on the poles or boxes. Nor are there any road markings defining a crossing area, as might match any pedestrian crossing types shown in the Highway Code.

People using it seemed uncertain, as were drivers.

Some vehicles gave way, others just carried on when the lights were flashing.

Similarly, pedestrians didn’t seem to be sure if they could proceed, or not. They can’t really see those flashing amber lights which face the traffic (especially in daylight) and have no purpose built lights showing them what’s happening. As the traffic did not all give way (as it might do at a zebra crossing with Belisha beacons), users seemed to be unsure of priorities (like the couple above, and hesitated in the centre of the road, even when the road was clear.

I hesitate to pass further comments about apparent deficiencies in this installation, as it may be incomplete, and a brief search online did not appear to find any related information.

However, the lighting and wiring does not seem to be very robust, and one amber light has already been lost, and looks as if it was simply vandalised, and pulled/broken off the pole.

Obviously, this is not one of those that can be seen above, but was facing towards the library.

Is this a private venture?

If so, where does liability lie in the event of some incident?

Does it comply with regulation for such things?

I’ll keep poking around (and keep an eye on it when I’m visiting), but since my first search came up with exactly nothing, no matter how I phrased it, or where I looked (even tried local news media), I’m not sure where more info might be found.

Incidentally, I believe the exclamation mark within a red triangle warns of a hazard ahead, and should have a sign below, indicating the nature of the hazard to oncoming traffic.

Historic first as Twitter enters Scottish courts

Taking such things as mobile phones, laptops, netbooks, tablets, pad, or the like would normally be greeted with a warning, and a finger pointing towards the cells if done in a Scottish court.

However, on January 26, 2011, in an intriguing experiment, this was just what happened in courtroom number four within Glasgow’s High Court.

Apparently the most mentioned message to leave the courtroom was a description of a criminal arriving at court, and throwing his car keys in the judge’s ashtray – surely not an attempted bribe?

The exercise appears to have gone without incident, and it looks as if it will be repeated, it would seem that tweeting from court is likely to be limited to the simpler activities such as bail hearings and sentencing, while complex cases and the like will continue to be reported using more traditional methods.

This will probably come as some relief to those who carry out that traditional function using their shorthand skills, who were reported to be a ‘little unsettled’ by the days’ events.