Let’s talk about something that really grinds my gears: ugly traffic calming measures
It’s a right pain, isn’t it?
You’re driving along some of the most picturesque streets in the UK, and then your retinas are attacked by speed humps and warning signs that look as if they’ve been ripped out of an industrial wasteland.
It’s like putting a pair of trainers on the Mona Lisa. We need to think differently about this – because we can do better.
Much better.
The Need for a Prettier Pedal-Off
Here’s the nub: we get it. Traffic calming is important. We want to keep our kids safe and our streets more walkable. But can we really not make these traffic calming features at all pretty? From where I sit, there is no reason why these features can’t be made a bit easier on the eye. And I don’t just mean put a new coat of paint on them. I mean build aesthetic appeal from the get-go.
Artistic Flair in Functional Fare
Picture slowing traffic on a road with sculpted, traffic-calming gardens by the roadside that also improve biodiversity. We’re not just dreaming this up. These practical proposals blend function and finesse.
For instance, look at the idea of bespoke speed tables that are properly integrated into the cityscape. These are not random humps in the road, they are part of the texture of the city – they form an integral part of the civic architecture and landscape and, as such, one shouldn’t feel like you are being ‘speed bumped’ when you ride over one. It must feel like a quiet signal that you are entering an area where the cars are not the masters of the manor.
Green is the New Black
We should be greening up our streets in more serious ways than the occasional potted shrubbery. Vertical gardens on lampposts, green roofs on bus stops, hedges sculpted into living ‘art’ — all of these can be natural pace-breakers, making our cities healthier places to live and our roads less like racetracks.
Making more room for nature in city planning is not just about prettification – it’s about sustainability, in the sense that cityscapes that are designed to demand slower speeds will naturally encourage motorists to slow down and take in the roses (or, more accurately, the rose beds). And, would you not rather slow down for a flower bed than a white line anyway?
Community Collaboration
Getting this right means actually listening to the community. What looks good according to the eye of the urban planner is not necessarily what fits into the existing community tapestry. The more that the engagement process allows for the voices of local residents, the more likely they are to respect (and ultimately maintain) the traffic calming measure. But in addition to functioning as a useful traffic device, the measure is immediately transformed into a civic artifact of which the local community can feel ownership and pride.
Using Traditional Materials for Modern Traffic Calming
I’m going to talk to you about something else close to my heart: the humble cobble, that little traditional paving gem, not just for genteel streets in those history books, but actually back for its big break, and this time it’s not just scenery – it’s calming our traffic for us. Cobbles are returning to the urban scene big time.
Cobblestones: Not Just a Pretty Facade
For starters, the myth that cobblestones are merely a quaint throwback needs to be nipped in of retro splendour and you can pretty much close the film with the subtitle ‘And then the Victorians came.’ But cobblestones are resilient, hard-wearing and ‘frictional’ – they induce drivers to take their foot off the accelerator, an ideal solution for modern traffic calming.
Cobblestones slow down traffic of their own accord, and are therefore best suited for walkers, not drivers. And, frankly, we’d rather hear the clatter of tyres on cobbles than the sight of concrete speed humps.
Modern Traffic Calming Meets Old-World Charm
Nowadays, however, throwing cobblestones into the mix for modern traffic calming doesn’t mean simply laying some cobbles down and saying ‘job done’. It means embedding history into our everyday travel. Urban planners are catching on, using cobblestones to design streets that fit in with the historic features of a city, while assimilating them into modern safety requirements.
Picture driving through a town centre where the yellow lines and metal signs telling you how fast you can drive have been replaced by cobbles that give you a little aesthetic flourish at the same time as they do a better job of letting you know where to go.
Cobbled Speed Tables: A Case Study in Beauty and Efficiency
Let’s start with a specific application – cobbled speed tables. These aren’t regular speed humps. Raised sections of roadway paved with cobbles act as a natural speed control, while also improving the aesthetic value of the roadway. The cobble speed table is the Swiss Army knife of the traffic-calming world. They are multifunctional, durable, and surprisingly elegant.
Cobbled speed tables do a great job of slowing traffic in places where aesthetics matter, such as in front of schools or in historic districts. They send a visual and tactile message: Slow down, look around, enjoy your surroundings. And they can stand up to the daily grind of commuter traffic, as well as the occasional parade.
The return of cobbles to urban design is not coincidental. Cities are discovering that the functional can also be beautiful. When community and aesthetics become almost as important as utility, cobbles offer the perfect form-function synergy.
And let’s not forget the green factor: cobblestones are wonderfully durable, and are usually replaced less often than asphalt, making them a good eco-city choice.
Wrapping It Up
So my two penn’orth: let’s bin the boring old ways, and let’s make our brilliant street safety schemes beautiful as well as functional. Let’s beautify street design. Let’s make our much-loved public spaces safe as well as engaging. And let’s give our traffic calming schemes an imaginative overhaul that matches the life and buzz of our streets and communities.
If we really want our roads to be safe, let’s make them pleasant to use, not simply tolerable. Safety and beauty can be complementary and all the better for it. Let’s celebrate our streets rather than merely endure them.
