Public realm schemes

Public realm schemes are usually introduced to improve the environment in urban areas. They often consist of shared space or shared surface areas where there is no delineation between the road and the footway. 

Figure 5.28 The Ashford Ring Road Scheme - a public realm scheme...

Figure 6.41 A public realm scheme with the potential for high vehicle speeds...

Overall, although many issues were identified, it was considered that the proposed public realm scheme represented a significant improvement over the existing... 

Road Safety Auditors examining public realm schemes should look objectively at the schemes and be open-minded when it comes to innovative ideas. However, they should still raise any safety concerns they may have. In particular, they may be concerned about ... 

The Manual for Streets (DfT, 2007) and Manual for Streets 2 (CIHT, 2010) recommend that Road Safety Audits are carried out within the overall umbrella of quality audits. This system is likely to be widely adopted in public realm schemes. Quality audits are discussed in more detail in Chapter 9. 

The lack of firm evidence makes this approach very difficult. An example of this can be seen in City of Westminster. Westminster has produced guidelines on its public realm schemes that recommends a minimalist use of tactile paving at crossing points (City of Westminster, 2011). In particular, the advice is that ... 

Public realm and traffic-calming schemes (mentioned 7 times)... 

The main road safety risks identified in public realm or traffic-calming schemes were ... 

---