The story behind a button Leeds pedestrians were reluctant to push
Published 11th Apr 2025, 08:33 GMT
It was a button city centre pedestrians were reluctant to push.
New traffic-signal gantries on Vicar Lane and Briggate were officially ‘switched on’ in June 1968 yet pedestrians were still loathe to press the button.
The gantries were part of the X-way push-button controlled pedestrian-crossing system and the overhead signals had been generally well accepted by motorists.
But while traffic flowed through the city centre with noticeable ease, pedestrians waited... and waited... and waited on the side of the road to cross.
“Some of them seem almost frightened to press the button that will make the traffic stop,” explained an official of the City Traffic Engineer’s department. “They obviously think the lights will change automatically in their favour.”