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Old July 3rd 10, 06:43 PM posted to uk.transport.london
Colin McKenzie Colin McKenzie is offline
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First recorded activity at LondonBanter: Feb 2004
Posts: 266
Default Traffic light removal

On Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:43:59 +0100, Basil Jet
wrote:
List here...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/h...t_01_07_10.pdf


Not sure what status this list has.

The one Ealing junction that I think is going ahead isn't listed.

Acton High St / Birkbeck Grove is probably the westbound bus gate, which
has been bagged for years.

I'm surprised Creffield Road / Twyford Avenue W3 hasn't been included,
so wonder what criteria they have used to select them for removal.


This was on Ealing's original list, but dropped when parents at the nearby
Twyford High School objected. It seems parents are not confident of their
children's ability to cross the road without coloured lights to tell them
when to do it. Of course, the kids know better, and it all goes wrong
anyway when a driver runs a red light. I think zebras are better than
lights, and they're certainly no less safe, because drivers and
pedestrians are looking out for each other.

The problem with taking traffic lights away is what you replace them with.
Often the answer is a mini-roundabout, which severely disadvantages
pedestrians. If new crossing points are provided, they are some distance
away from the roundabout. Crossing at the roundabout is tricky because you
have to look so many ways and gauge who is and isn't going to stop.

Colin McKenzie


--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at the
population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.