London Banter - View Single Post

[email protected] · March 26th 17, 11:33 PM posted to uk.transport.london

In article , (Roland Perry)
wrote:

In message , at
10:27:14 on Sun, 26 Mar 2017, remarked:

Not only do I have a brain that happens to work in that way (in
effect I have a "photographic memory" for walking/driving routes),
I've been using the tube for 50yrs. In the case of Kings Cross, I
followed the design and building with a fine tooth comb. Here's my
much-discussed guess at the final configuration, long before they
started building:

http://www.perry.co.uk/images/kx-composite.jpg

Yet from the stairs beyond the end of platform 8, labelled Kings Cross
Mainline (ECML) in your diagram, the signs at the bottom of the stairs
direct passengers to turn right for the Victoria Line while turning
left is a much shorter walking route. This is as daft as imagining
that one-way streets reduce traffic.

Roland has often pointed out that there are sometimes better ways
through the Kings Cross underground maze than the signposted routes,
which seem designed to spread people out, in order to reduce
over-crowding, rather than to give them the shortest route. They also,
in some cases, lead to step-free routes.

Hence my reference to the fallacy that (longer) one-way streets reduce
traffic. Sending people on longer routes creates congestion, especially
when so spectacularly longer than the direct route.

It's not the equivalent of one-way streets - they've built a three
lane each way inner ring road in addition to the existing High Street.

Not so long ago they recognised this and reversed the direction arrow I
was referring to. The change was then undone.

Perhaps the congestion was worse?

It undermines faith in direction signing when people discover they are
being sent on long detours.

If they are non-regulars they won't even know. Regulars who care will
take the shorter one.

Some heroic assumptions there.

--
Colin Rosenstiel