Calls to replace the railings at the junction of St Dunstans and North Lane (Gazette: 28 Aug) are misplaced. Simple segregation of traffic and pedestrians does little for safety and simply increases the speed at which drivers think they can travel safely.
St Dunstans is a busy area for pedestrians with its shops and cafes and it is time to give pedestrians right of way there. I want to see see a 'shared space' such as the successful scheme in Ashford where there are no artificial boundaries between the traffic and pedestrians. In a shared space, traffic is simply required to give way to people and as a result drivers go more slowly and take more care. Pedestrians also take more care in a shared space with accidents falling by 75% in Ashford's shared space.
It is time to rebalance the transport priorities in Canterbury making sure that pedestrians have priority over cars where possible, especially in places such as St Dunstans.
Stuart
No comments:
Post a Comment