Roads revolution to make Shropshire spaces safer
It's called shared spaces – and it could be coming to a road junction near you.
Those in favour say the new thinking in the way roads are laid out is the answer to reducing accidents and congestion.
And now the idea of shared spaces is gradually finding favour across Shropshire, with the first planned for Telford.
The initiative involves removing traffic lights, signs, white lines, and even kerbs from a street, leaving drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to make use of the same area.
Shared space has already been embraced in Holland, where the concept's creator Hans Monderman lived, as well as in parts of Britain including in London, Kent and Cheshire. One of the first schemes to be trialled in Britain was in Ashford, in Kent. Although the scheme was met with mixed responses, it led to a 41 per cent drop in accidents in which people were injured.
The initiative is set to come to Shropshire at the end of the year in Coach Central in Telford as part of the town's Southwater development.
And earlier this year representatives from Shropshire Council and some of the county's town councils visited Poynton in Cheshire to look at their shared space traffic system.
In Poynton signs have been removed, new layouts introduced and different textures introduced into the surface to create equality for pedestrians and motorists.
Although very controversial in its introduction those in favour of it say it has seen economic gain and strong community support.
The shared spaces idea also has the backing of north Shropshire MP and environment minister, Owen Paterson.
He said: "I have seen the shared spaces idea working in Holland. There are towns in Holland where all the street furniture has been removed and pedestrians and motorists share the same space.
"Accidents have reduced and motorists drive more slowly. It is an idea that I would like to see repeated more in Shropshire."
Ben Hamilton-Baillie, Britain's leading shared space expert, said the concept works because it makes drivers think.
"As soon as the brain's engaged the speed drops," he said.
"In September 1967, Sweden moved over to driving on the right.
"The move followed years of anguished projections of the number of additional deaths and injuries from the resulting chaos and confusion that Swedish society would have to accept to achieve conformity with the rest of Europe.
"In the event, September 1967 saw the lowest casualty rate on Swedish roads in many decades.
He added: "It's certainly safer – the difficulty with any scheme like this is that it increases the slight sense of risk and discomfort in order to achieve that safety.
"So people inevitably have some hesitation and nervousness about mixing with traffic as it relies on establishing a relationship at low speeds, which makes it possible to cross the road."
"Traffic and movement is the life-blood of cities, and treating the driver as human appears to generate more efficient flows as well as more civilized spaces and interaction."
