The very latest on those expensive ‘designed-to-rust’ planters on the London Road.
After all the fuss about a three-year-old audit – warning of sight issues for people coming out of side roads – it seems another inspection confirms that all but one of the artist- embellished containers will have to move slightly.
The ‘one’ singled out will have to go completely and could end up in a local park.
B &NES has to talk to adjacent traders – and the utilities about underground access – before confirming the adjustment but – if all goes to plan – the containers could be ‘handed over’ to the care of the local community very soon
They are an important addition to that stretch of the London Road – which already looks much better for the central reservation trees.
Let’s be clear, this is exceptionally poor design. PM10 Air Pollution drops off significantly within metres. There should not have been a central reservation of trees, but a tree/planter lined central two way carriageway. On the other side of those planters should have been protected cycle lanes and then footpath. You could even have used car parking to protect the cycle lane.
This whole design principle goes against everything that is right in road design and even the NACTO Global Street Design Guide wich Greater Manchester (https://nacto.org/global-street-design-guide-gsdg/) has signed up to advises against this atrocity. We absolutely should know better than this.
What is clear is that those big rusty skips demonstrate the immense amount of public realm that was wasted and far better off the shelf designs are available. This space should be about moving people and ensuring good community space with good use of vegetation to create a healthy street.
What we have is a monument to failure, but lets be absolutely clear, until Cleveland Junction is redesigned closer to a Poynton style approach (basically a series of roundabouts with cyclists/peds going around them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vzDDMzq7d0 ), any design in this space is a huge compromise and utterly doomed to failure. However there is failing and then there is failing hard.
There was room for bus stop build outs. There was room to defend walkers against pollution by using planters, but no, we have a dead space in the middle of the street pushing all that toxic PM10 pollution close to walkers and cyclists. F- try again.
Good line – ‘ a monument to failure’ – get yourself on the Council next year?