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Although we do have Pelicans with narrow medians in the UK, "common" is a bit too strong a description. Those that do exist tend to be older, we try to avoid them now. The Pelican timing sequence is intended to get pedestrians established on the second half of the carriageway by the end of the steady green man/red to vehicles period. The flashing green man/flashing amber period is intended to allow a late-arriving pedestrian who has just stepped off the pavement at the end of the steady green man time to get across the carriageway. But as soon as the first pedestrians clear the second carriageway most drivers will start moving, so a late arrival will get caught in the middle. A narrow median provides an uncomfortable, marginally safe place to wait if you get caught between the streams of traffic, particularly if you are a parent with a child in a pushchair or you are in a wheelchair. Though you do normally get provided with a push-button in the middle so that you can call another pedestrian sequence. You also need to set the timing to get most people across both carriageways - this will mean long steady green man and flashing green man periods, which some highway authorities are not keen on because of delay to road traffic. We would normally try to achieve some local widening to accommodate a staggered crossing. With the wrong timings these can cause considerable delay to pedestrians. In Sheffield we try to minimise this by cross linking the crossings - operation of one puts in an advance demand for the second so it begins to change as the pedestrians reach it. We also have (very) short minimum vehicle green periods so pedestrians don't have to wait long. Pete Bull Principal Engineer - Traffic Control, Sheffield City Council [log in to unmask] Note: this is my personal opinion, not necessarily the policy of Sheffield City Council. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%