The redesigned Oxford Circus, which opened this morning after a two-year, £5m makeover, contains two big innovations. As well as crossing the intersection laterally, pedestrians now have a 30-second window when all traffic stops and they can go at a diagonal along a giant X marked into the junction with metal studs. Known to road engineers, slightly alarmingly, as a "pedestrian scramble", it is modelled on the famously frantic junction adjoining Shibuya station in central Tokyo.
The redesign also removes roadside barriers and much of the pavement clutter. This boosts available space for pedestrians by around two-thirds, as well as – the designers hope – encouraging all road users towards a more thoughtful, responsible attitude. A team from Atkins, the engineering and design group which managed the project, used software of the type which created vast battle scenes in the Lord of the Rings films to create 3D animations showing how the throngs might interact. This appeared to prove that an X-shaped junction allowed the crowds, which can peak at around 40,000 people an hour, to cross far more efficiently.
This is a great example of how urban modelling can be used for city planning. See the vid and also read the full Guardian story here.
The redesign also removes roadside barriers and much of the pavement clutter. This boosts available space for pedestrians by around two-thirds, as well as – the designers hope – encouraging all road users towards a more thoughtful, responsible attitude. A team from Atkins, the engineering and design group which managed the project, used software of the type which created vast battle scenes in the Lord of the Rings films to create 3D animations showing how the throngs might interact. This appeared to prove that an X-shaped junction allowed the crowds, which can peak at around 40,000 people an hour, to cross far more efficiently.This is a great example of how urban modelling can be used for city planning. See the vid and also read the full Guardian story here.
No comments:
Post a Comment