Pedestrianizing Exhibition Road

Closing off traffic from the front of London's National Gallery was a bold and most welcome move; and now, this:

In an experiment which may be adopted elsewhere in Britain, visitors to Exhibition Road in South Kensington, London, are to be given the right to walk where they want, when they want.

The £25m redesign adopts the principle of "inferred pedestrian priority" and aims to provide easier access to one of the largest and most important centres of public education in the world. The area, known as 'Museum Alley', is home to the Natural History, Science, and Victoria & Albert museums; Imperial College; the Royal College of Art; the Royal College of Music; the English National Ballet and the Royal Albert Hall. . .

Under the new plans - one of 10 pilot schemes in Mayor Ken Livingstone's Making Space for Londoners initiative - traffic will be restricted to 20mph and channelled into two lanes, kerbs will disappear and there will be a single "attractive" surface for walkers and drivers.

The 10 million pedestrians using the road each year will be encouraged to cross the two channels of traffic where they like. The present railings, meant to keep walkers away from vehicles, will be removed.

Interesting idea, but I confess it makes me uneasy. The article mentions experiments in the Netherlands, but those appear to have only involved removal of signs at intersections -- nothing so radical as mixing pedestrian and vehicular spaces. And as a parent, I'm seriously worried about children gamboling into traffic, not having the usual cues about where and where not to walk.

Posted by David on January 31, 2005 9:54 PM