A pegasus crossing (United Kingdom; also equestrian crossing) is a type of signalised

pedestrian crossing A pedestrian crossing (or crosswalk in American and Canadian English) is a place designated for pedestrians to cross a road, street or Avenue (landscape), avenue. The term "pedestrian crossing" is also used in the Vienna Convention on Road Sign ...

, with special consideration for horse riders. This type of crossing is named after the mythical winged horse,

Pegasus Pegasus (; ) is a winged horse in Greek mythology, usually depicted as a white stallion. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa. Pegasus was the brother of Chrysaor, both born from Medusa's blood w ...

. They are primarily used in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. At a minimum, these crossings are in the form of a

pelican crossing A pelican crossing is a type of pedestrian crossing with traffic signals for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic, activated by call buttons for pedestrians, with the walk signal being directly across the road from the pedestrian. Pelican cro ...

or puffin crossing but simply have two control panels, one at the normal height for pedestrians or dismounted riders, and one two metres above the ground for the use of mounted riders, and the "green man" (walk) and "red man" (stop)

pictogram A pictogram (also pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto) is a graphical symbol that conveys meaning through its visual resemblance to a physical object. Pictograms are used in systems of writing and visual communication. A pictography is a wri ...

s are replaced with horses. Additional features, to improve safety, include a wooden fence or other barrier and a wider crossing so that the horses are further away from vehicles than normal. If the crossing is to be used by pedestrians and cyclists too, then a parallel, separate

toucan crossing A toucan crossing is the British term for a type of pedestrian crossing that also allows bicycles to be ridden across. Since ''"two can"'' cross together (both pedestrians and cyclists) the name “toucan” was chosen. In the United Kingdom t ...

may be placed next to the pegasus crossing.

Installation and removal

There are examples in Hyde Park,

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, Cha ...

and village area of Wimbledon in London; Rayleigh,

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

and

Great Notley Great Notley is a village to the south-west of Braintree, Essex in England. It has an approximate population of 10,100 including Black Notley and became an independent civil parish on 1 April 2000 as a result of The Great Notley Parish Council ...

in Essex and

Worsley Worsley () is a village in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, which in 2014 had a population of 10,090. It lies along Worsley Brook, west of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county ...

, Salford as well as near

Epsom Downs Epsom Downs is an area of chalk downland, chalk upland near Epsom, Surrey; in the North Downs. Part of the area is taken up by the Epsom Downs Racecourse, racecourse; the gallops are part of the land purchased by Stanly Wootton in 1925 and are ...

Racecourse, Surrey and in Colton on the former A6120 (now B6902) in Leeds. The crossing in Colton has a separate gravel covered section, signposted for use by horses only, located at 53.795888,-1.436130. Another example is situated between Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay, North Yorkshire on Stainsacre Lane. After completion of upgrading the A66 between Greta Bridge– Scotch Corner in 2007, two pegasus crossings were installed on the section of the dual carriageway in 2009, immediately to the west of Scotch Corner. These crossings included raised buttons for horse riders, safety fences and lights to control the traffic which consisted of only two orange lights. These crossings never became operational and with the exception of the safety fences were later removed. There are also examples in use in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

, Peru.

Gallery

Image:Equestrian crossing lights.jpg, "Pegasus" lights Image:PegasusCrossing closeup2.jpg, Control panel for equestrians,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Image:Worsley Pegasus crossing.jpg, Worsley, Salford

References

External links

British Horse Society
Equestrianism Pedestrian crossings {{Peru-road-stub

Installation and removal

Gallery

See also

References

External links