David Hansen wrote in message . ..
On Sun, 22 Aug 2004 08:10:00 +0000 (UTC) someone who may be
"Piccadilly Pilot" wrote this:-

As suggested, many people rely on the road signs etc and forget
about people emrging from the side turning whose view is blocked by vehicles
parked close to the junction.

Although I can't comment on this location removal of excessive road
markings has been shown to slow the average speed of motor traffic.
I expect to see more of it, though it will be a low process.

It will be a slow and costly process because removing road markings
completely can only be done by re-surfacing the road.

Markings can be partially removed by burning them off, or planing them
off, but both these methods make a mess of the road surface - and you
can still see where the markings were. Another unsatisfactory method
is to cover them with black road-marking material - but as it wears
away the white markings underneath soon start to show through again.

Kensington and Chelsea have a 'de-cluttering' policy which aims to
reduce road signs and markings and other street furniture such as
guardrails and bollards to the absolute minimum in order to improve
the look of the area. So long as this is coupled with good road
design it shouldn't compromise safety.

But there may be risks if things are just ripped out without
considering why they were put there in the first place.

I have little doubt it is safe to omit markings in low speed roads
with relatively light traffic. Over recent years many residential
developments have been built without road markings at junctions and
work perfectly well. If you are not sure whether you have priority
just give-way - simple (if others do this at the same time it may be
confusing for a moment but not dangerous)! Just like a
mini-roundabout really, except for the lack of 'rules'.

I wouldn't recommend this as a 'blanket' policy however - each
location needs to be looked at. Where visibility of a junction is not
so good, providing give-way lines on the minor roads; and road
centre-lines (or leaving a gap in a continuous centre-line) across a
junction on the priority road can be an effective way to show drivers
that there is something there they need to look out for. And much
cheaper than mini-roundabouts, which can also be very effective if
required but need illuminated signs in addition to the road markings.