[sustran] Naked streets

[Zvi Leve]

I don't have much time to respond, but I would like to just add a few 
quick points on the subject of "naked streets". As has already been 
pointed out, this method may not be appropriate in all situations. In 
mixed-use residential areas where the traffic volumes are not that high 
and the drivers are respectful of other road users this method should 
work just fine. On the other hand, I have witnessed first-hand the 
dynamics when the traffic signals go out in a number of different places 
and it is quite impressive how quickly complete grid-lock can set in! By 
grid-lock I am referring to the situation where /no one is going 
anywhere/ because an intersection is completely blocked and the traffic 
behind the blocked intersection prevents anyone from backing up 
(remember the blackout on the US East coast a few years back? no one 
could drive!). In developing regions, where there is still a lack of 
basic accessibility to large portions of the population, I think that it 
is perhaps premature to consider this concept. As an Iranian colleague 
once said to me: "if you can't even get from point A to point B who 
really cares about road safety?"

Concerning Todd's remarks about round-abouts versus junctions: yes 
round-abouts can keep traffic 'flowing' more smoothly, but they only 
work well up to certain volumes. Once there is too much traffic on 
multiple entering legs they tend to get 'blocked' and may actually work 
worse than signalized intersections (in terms of the through-put at least).

Cheers,

Zvi

martincassini at blueyonder.co.uk wrote:
> Some common ground then but not much, so we'll agree to differ.
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> Martin
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