B4.3.1 Designing for pedestrians

Proposed pedestrian routes must be:

• convenient: Providing direct and logical connections between essential local facilities (for example, schools, shops, green spaces, public transport), avoiding unnecessary detours or indirect alignments

• well-lit: Include lighting at regular intervals that meets British Standard (BS) 5489:1:2020, ensuring safe use after dark. In environmentally sensitive areas, lighting design must balance safety with ecology, by following Code: 2.4c

• safe: Ensuring clear sightlines and good visibility, with passive surveillance from surrounding buildings wherever possible. Avoiding isolated or concealed areas and including safe, well-designed crossing points that comply with relevant safety standards. See Codes: 3.11c and 3.42c for further details

• inclusive: Be designed in accordance with Inclusive Mobility. A Guide to Best Practice on Access to Pedestrian and Transport Infrastructure (Department for Transport) ensuring accessibility for people of all ages and abilities

• easy to navigate: Including clear signage, legible layouts, and use of visual landmarks to support intuitive wayfinding, particularly around key decision points and public spaces. See Code: 3.24c for further details

Vertical clearance must be considered when locating existing features such as signs, lighting, canopies, trees (including tree canopy), or street furniture. A minimum vertical clearance of 2.1 metres must be maintained above footways to ensure safe and unobstructed movement for all users, including those carrying umbrellas or using mobility aids.

Exceptions:

• where any feature is positioned on a footway within 0.45 metres of the carriageway edge, a minimum vertical clearance of 5.3 metres must be provided to avoid conflicts with high-sided vehicles such as buses and HGVs

• where the footway is shared with cyclists the minimum vertical clearance must increase to 2.3 metres

• where the footway is shared with horse riders the minimum vertical clearance must increase to 3 metres

Where only one footway is provided, a minimum 0.6 metre hard margin must be included on the opposite side to protect underground utilities. Grass verges must not be utilised.

Developments must provide the most direct route possible to local transport links (such as rail stations or bus stops), local facilities, schools and adjacent neighbourhoods, in such a way that it is more convenient and attractive to walk than to drive to such destinations.

More information can be found on the Pedestrian Environment Review System (PERS) Fact Sheet (Transport for London) and the Streetaudit Factsheet (TRL Software).

For standalone footpaths (on access roads), a minimum total corridor width of 5 metres should be provided, comprising a 3 metre wide shared-use pedestrian and cycleway with 1 metre margins to either side.