Blind see faults in shared space

29 March 2007

A new manual for streets warns against the introduction of ‘shared space’ residential streets without clear delineation between carriageway and footway, following intense lobbying from the Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Department for Transport officials involved the charity in revising the manual, following its alarm that the draft backed shared space designs because they force road-users ‘to watch out and make eye contact before proceeding’ (Surveyor, 6 July 2006).
Following months of lobbying, Carol Thomas, the Guide Dogs for the Blind’s access and inclusion manager, was ‘pleased that the Government has listened to what we had to say’. It had been assured that the manual, published this week, would not advocate the use of shared space without measures to ensure that blind and partially-sighted people would be safe.
The document also urges local authorities to consider Guide Dogs for the Blind research on how best to achieve this. ‘We are considering how shared space can be made to work for disabled people, and how that can be applied consistently in designs,’ said Thomas.
The charity has commissioned a consortium, led by designer Bjarne Winterberg, to develop guidance on forms of demarcation which evidence shows works. Potential solutions will be tested in a University College London laboratory with a computer-driven platform for modelling the ease with which pedestrians use different street environments. ‘We want evidence on what actually works and what doesn’t. It may be as simple as having a tonal contrast between the two areas,’ Thomas added.
The Manual for streets, which replaces the Design bulletin 32 guidance on residential streets, is expected to make a big difference to street designs in new developments by recommending reducing visibility and carriageway and junction widths. But fears have been expressed that the manual will fail to deliver significant change because it ducks the challenge of applying shared space principles to busier urban routes – including most of London’s streets – and to country lanes by focusing on lightly-trafficked residential streets.
The Guide Dogs for the Blind wants to hear from local highway authorities that have implemented shared space schemes with measures to ensure the safety of the blind and the visually impaired. sharedsurfaces@guidedogs.org.uk

View the new manual at :http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/205/ManualforStreets_id1509205.pdf

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