naked road

n. a street, highway, or road without signs or paint markings. Subjects: English, Automobiles & Transportation, Urban Planning & Zoning

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Citations: 2004 The Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom) (Jan. 1) “Signs point to confusion” p. 11: “Naked road” schemes, where streets have no signs, traffic lights or road markings or kerbs, would be welcomed by two in five of those surveyed. 2005 BBC News (Jan. 6) “Road users mingle in naked scheme”: Exhibition Road in Kensington could be the showcase for the “naked road” experiment—pioneered in Holland. Organisers say the idea works as a form of psychological traffic calming which encourages drivers to be more considerate to pedestrians. 2006 USA Today (Nov. 21) “In Europe, minimalism has the right of way in road signs” (in Ipswich, England): “It’s counterintuitive, but it works,” said urban planner Ben Hamilton-Baillie, who heads the British arm of a four-year European project, Shared Spaces, to test the viability of what some planners call “naked roads.” Since 2004, some roads in the eastern English town of Ipswich, as well as towns in Germany, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands have been stripped of signs and signals—and authorities have been tracking the results.

Posted 23 Nov 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend