Exhibition Road: novel approach to sharing the road

[Adam W]

Exhibition Road in London was recently completely renovated. Previously, the road was pretty standard: road with sidewalks. The road is surrounded by museums and is in the part of town that gets the most tourist traffic (both on foot and by taxi).

It was always a nightmare to walk along, due to the crowds. I can only imagine how frustrating it was to drive there. Anyway, they took a novel approach (from our European cousins) and made the road a shared space: now automobile traffic shares the road with pedestrians. Initial reports say it's working like a dream. I guess the research said that would be the case anyway.

One thing's for certain: it looks great.

I can see something like this potentially working in Downtown Jax or maybe in Riverside, Avondale or San Marco. Downtown makes a lot of sense, especially on the weekends, when auto traffic is light.

http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/subsites/exhibitionroad/whathaschanged.aspx

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/nov/11/london-exhibition-road-cultural

I'm thinking of taking a trip out west (when the weather gets better) and taking a few photos and experiencing it up close and personal.