On 2011\09\26 16:08, Robin wrote:
Exhibition Road has had the pavements and kerbs removed to turn it
into a place where pedestrians and vehicles don't quite know who is
supposed to be where. Apparently that's a good thing. Anyway, blind
groups have complained, so the former pavement area is now going to
be covered in ... wait for it... corduroy so that the blind will know
when they are on the former pavement area and when they are in the
former road area. Since the presence of the corduroy will also alert
everyone else to the location of the former pavement area, I can't
help thinking that leaving the original road, pavement and kerbs
intact would have achieved similar results with zero cost or
disruption. No wonder the country's bankrupt.

I doubt if anyone involved is as stupid as someone who thinks readers
will believe they are going to use confuse (cotton fibre) corduroy
rather than the 800mm tactile paving corduroy which is what I have read
will be used. Or did *you* think it was going to be a cotton fibre?

Yes, I did. It did seem strange. But my point still stands - they've
spent a fortune on getting rid of the distinction between road and
footway, only to reinstate it.