It's a revolutionary change in traffic thinking. Sidewalks have been eliminated on a newly reconstructed stretch of Exhibition Road, in downtown London. The busy thoroughfare has been changed from the traditional sidewalk-and-road arrangement into a continuous smooth surface that is shared by pedestrians, bikers and drivers.
There are no crosswalks, lane markings, sidewalks, curbs, signs or railings. What you see (above) is what you get: a long road with large black and white granite cross-hatching. It's a perfect place for a pedestrianized route because three huge museums and a university front onto it and there are 11.5 million visitors a year to the area.
The concept for this "shared space" derives from a Dutch traffic engineer, Hans Monderman. It is a different way of looking at roads: Shared space removes the traditional segregation of motor vehicles, pedestrians and other road users. All the usual roads signs and signs are replaced with an integrated, people-oriented way of looking at streets where walking, cycling, shopping and driving cars become integrated activities.
If you have 5 minutes, you can check everything here: SharingUrbanRoads
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