Comments on: Impromptu Shared Space Calms Soho Intersection

By: Callum Scott

Callum Scott — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:22:01 +0000

I’m from Oxford, England and on the ring road there are numerous roundabouts all with traffic lights on. My dad (from NZ) finds it hilarious that we have traffic lights on roundabouts instead of either/or. Whenever the lights go out the traffic flows just fine! I think roundabouts and give way’s encourage people to think for themselves about when to go rather than bowing to the will of three little lights.

By: Sean Sweeney

Sean Sweeney — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:48:56 +0000

Gary, yhen let the ‘new’ DOT reverse a bad decision. It has proposed everything else for Prince Street but that. Why?

By: tim koelle

tim koelle — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:46:57 +0000

“pesky bikers”, pedestrians…….even cars, got thru w/more equanimity.
seems to me that the field can be leveled for all.

By: gary fisher

gary fisher — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:24:26 +0000

No that all fits with traffic engineering philosophy of ten years ago.

By: Sean Sweeney

Sean Sweeney — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 19:16:59 +0000

Prince Street had practically no traffic lights until about ten years ago – just stop signs. It was ideal, almost bucolic in its concept. Think the Shared Space of Drachten, Germany indeed.

Ignoring the maxim, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, the nameless bureaucrats at DOT removed the stop signs and installed sets of traffic lights arbitrarily and without any requests from SoHo or the Community Board. Then the sheet hit the fan. Honking, congestion and speeding immediately resulted.

To make it worse, this week I got a complaint from a Prince Street resident who claimed that DOT has recently synched the green lights, resulting in cars speeding even worse than before.

Who at DOT hires these characters, apparently engineering school drop-outs?

By: Peter

Peter — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:15:21 +0000

i always say, if we can just get rid of those pesky bikers, the world would be a much better place.