PEDESTRIANS are to be given the right of way on one of Sunderland's busiest city centre roads.
The scheme will be introduced by Sunderland City Council from tomorrow, at the junction of Holmeside and Crowtree Road, where thousands of lunchtime shoppers cross to and from The Bridges shopping centre.
Holmeside is a prime bus route that takes single deckers through the city to and from the Sunderland Interchange.
Andy Morris, the council's assistant director of environment, said: "At present, traffic signals controlling that junction rest on green for traffic when there are no other calls.
"Under the new plan the signals will rest on the green man for pedestrians until the signals are activated by an approaching vehicle."
Audible bleepers and tactile indicators for the partially-sighted will only come into use when the pedestrian demand button is pressed.
The scheme follows a three-year experiment with similar signals in Kingston upon Hull.
The experiment resulted in a 50 per cent drop in the number of recorded injury accidents.
Bus operators are concerned that the changes could delay services through the city centre.
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