Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
Both links (your and mine) go to the same video but the embed function for Youtube here in the forum will not process them. Strange.
I think giving more space for pedestrians is perfectly reasonable. It is many of the other things that are very questionable. Aside from the chaises, the tables and chairs are silly, the pergolas useless, and every time a bus stops or a cab drops off/picks up a fare, traffic grinds to a halt. And forget about deliveries or service vehicles. Choking all of the side street access points down to one lane seems a bit absurd as well. And where will the precious cyclists ride? You cannot give them 3 meters clearance in this configuration. Perhaps they go on the sidewalk?
It all seems very half-baked, which is what I suspect the designers were when they came up with this.
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The link worked for me.
I like the increased space for pedestrians, but had the same questions:
- Bus stops will slow down traffic as there is no longer a viable way to pass them.
- Deliveries? Sounds like a mess.
- Cyclists? No provisions unless they plan to make adjacent streets cycle-priority (or whatever they call it). There are bike racks so of course they are expecting cyclists.
- Pergola bus stops are great in sunny weather, but what about the other 300 days a year when there is some form of precipitation falling? Shouldn't they be sheltered?
- The walk-through section of the video reminded me of a cyclists view as they are weaving around unsuspecting pedestrians on the sidewalk - maybe that is their plan for bicycles?
Overall I actually like the idea, but either somebody hasn't thought through the details, or they just don't care what happens on the street as long as it looks nice.