newsjunction.co.uk

There’s a lot of fuss being made about the idea of Shared Space road systems, of which the largest so far in the UK has recently opened in Ashford, Kent.

There’s a Facebook group against it, letters wrote to newspapers and councils, jokes about it on Have I Got News For You, and Jeremy Clarkson has labelled its supporters as “idiots”.

Clarkson wrote in the Sun that “They’ve deliberately made the ring road narrower to create this shared space…where cars and pedestrians all get on in perfect harmony…in the same way that the keepers at London Zoo could put all the animals in the same cage and sit back hoping that the Baby Jesus will stop the lions from eating the goats. Someone is going to be killed…either because they walked into the road, not knowing it was road, or because a motorist drove down the pavement not knowing it was pavement.”

He then proposes a return to 1960s city centre planning policies: “Make the road as straight and as fast as possible so people can get to work quickly and keep the wheels of industry turning. And then build foot bridges and railings to keep the cars away from those who choose to walk.” As if pedestrians and motorists aren’t ever the same people, and faster roads with railings and foot bridges (great for wheelchairs, buggies and the elderly) everywhere would be better.

Most complaints about Shared Space focus on the increased fear factor, but it’s meant to do this! Having signs, markings, kerbs, crossings and railings create a false sense of safety that subconsciously leads to faster, less cautious driving and less observant pedestrians. The increased perception of risk makes us take more care, when a situation feels unsafe, people are more alert and so there are fewer accidents.

This explains why New Road, a fully shared space in Brighton, has seen a 93% reduction in motor vehicle trips (12,000 fewer per day) and lower speeds (to around 10 MPH), alongside an increase in cyclist (93%) and pedestrian (162%) use; why a scheme implemented in London’s Kensington High Street, has yielded significant and sustained reductions in injuries to pedestrians with casualties fell from 71 in the two-year period before the street was remodelled to 40 afterwards (a drop of 43.7%). And in Holland casualty figures at one junction where traffic lights were removed have dropped from thirty-six in the four years prior to the introduction of the scheme to two in the two years following it.

Now there are issues with adapting to the system for the blind which need addressing, but I find it hard to challenge the evidence that Shared Space works.

Meanwhile Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson has been named the man other blokes most admire in a poll featuring in it’s top ten Apprentice boss Sir Alan Sugar, comic Peter Kay, footballer David Beckham, and The Office creator Ricky Gervais. You really have to wonder who they surveyed.

The way BAA and the government treats residents concerned about airport expansion is terrible, and I oppose the enlargement of airports over people’s private property.

But I also object to protests such as this, which serve only to damage the anti-expansion case.

Instead of concerned residents they can identify with, people will see environmental extremists breaking the law and endangering security - not least by occupying the time of security staff which would be better used elsewhere.

Instead of the message of ordinary people who’s homes face great disturbance, or demolition if extra runways get the green light, they will get messages about CO2 and a return to the stone age.

But most of all they will see ordinary people’s Christmas getaways and other trips being severely disrupted, shortened or cancelled altogether.

It’s no way to win friends and influence public opinion, and contrasts strongly with the professional and reasoned opposition of the Stop Stansted Expansion campaign.