teuchter
je suis teuchter
I agree that to a certain extent the social distancing justfication is nonsense. However - that's not being presented as the main reason to do this.
Likewise, perhaps there is a missed opportunity for better cycle provision.
But if you want Regent St to be better for pedestrians, then I don't see why anyone would object to what's being done. Pavement width, and how crowded pavements are, aren't the sole measure of whether a street is good for pedestrians. Two lanes of traffic not only encourages more traffic in general, it makes the street more difficult to cross. Regent St is one of London's main shopping streets - the amount of space currently given over to motor traffic is disproportionate.
It's often easy to say that pavements are wide enough and it's all fine so let's not change it. But very often, some time after the changes have been made, looking back at how it used to be, the previous arrangement then looks to be totally disproportionate. A good example of this is the road through the centre of Brixton. While there was perhaps more obvious pavement crowding there - when the pavements were widened there were people saying it was unnecessary (and also criticising the removal of the central barrier. But now - look back at photos of that road 20 years ago, and I think most people would agree it looks outrageous how compressed the pedestrian space had become.
As for cycle provision - is Regent street actually well suited to becoming a principal cycle route? It's one place where I might say that pedestrians should be given priority. A segregated cycle lane would inevitably cause conflict with pedestrians.
Likewise, perhaps there is a missed opportunity for better cycle provision.
But if you want Regent St to be better for pedestrians, then I don't see why anyone would object to what's being done. Pavement width, and how crowded pavements are, aren't the sole measure of whether a street is good for pedestrians. Two lanes of traffic not only encourages more traffic in general, it makes the street more difficult to cross. Regent St is one of London's main shopping streets - the amount of space currently given over to motor traffic is disproportionate.
It's often easy to say that pavements are wide enough and it's all fine so let's not change it. But very often, some time after the changes have been made, looking back at how it used to be, the previous arrangement then looks to be totally disproportionate. A good example of this is the road through the centre of Brixton. While there was perhaps more obvious pavement crowding there - when the pavements were widened there were people saying it was unnecessary (and also criticising the removal of the central barrier. But now - look back at photos of that road 20 years ago, and I think most people would agree it looks outrageous how compressed the pedestrian space had become.
As for cycle provision - is Regent street actually well suited to becoming a principal cycle route? It's one place where I might say that pedestrians should be given priority. A segregated cycle lane would inevitably cause conflict with pedestrians.
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