Dudley High Street is a shared space.
Shared spaces bring shared challenges and shared responsibilities. But most of all they need shared dreams.
We can create a #safeandfriendly High Street together, but we need to ask ourselves some questions first…
Shared spaces bring shared challenges and shared responsibilities. But most of all they need shared dreams.
We can create a #safeandfriendly High Street together, but we need to ask ourselves some questions first…
We're concerned that the majority of the pavement space on #Dudley High Street isn’t wide enough for 2m distancing, and is made more challenging by street furniture such as bins, lamp posts, and advertising boards. There are multiple pinch points with queues outside banks & cafes
Up to 100 people walk in front of our lab space on Dudley High Street in just 10 minutes. The majority of pedestrians did not observe social distancing (it's not really possible without stepping in front of traffic). There are no safe spaces for sitting or resting on the High St.
We asked passersby which ideas they like that people have tried in other towns and cities. Simple, low cost, colourful painting and parklets were favoured.
Some of our neighbours on #Dudley High Street think that people need parking spaces on the High Street itself. However this isn't possible if we want to create a #safeandfriendly High Street which has outdoor spaces for people to eat, enabling cafes and other eateries to survive.
Fortunately there are 1090 parking spaces within a few minutes walk of #Dudley High Street. Many are free for up to 2 hours. Contrasted with the 46 spaces on the High Street itself - reduced to 22 spaces last week to allow more space for pedestrians to pass each other.
Join us for a conversation next week on the Virtual High Street. We'll share findings from observations and conversations on Dudley High Street, and together we'll explore ideas that have been tested and proven to work in other places. What should we experiment with in Dudley?
More from our public life studies on #Dudley High Street.
A little more space has been created for pedestrians thanks to barriers across half of the parking spaces, however people want less traffic and space for parklets. Could we start experimenting while in response phase?
A little more space has been created for pedestrians thanks to barriers across half of the parking spaces, however people want less traffic and space for parklets. Could we start experimenting while in response phase?
The government expects local authorities to make significant changes to road layouts to give more space to cyclists and pedestrians (gov.uk/government/pub…)
Might we help #Dudley High Street move into a pandemic recovery phase with street closures or slow street layouts?
Might we help #Dudley High Street move into a pandemic recovery phase with street closures or slow street layouts?
This is our vision for a #safeandfriendly High Street in Dudley in 2021... it would build on experiments we can start now with local people and businesses to see how people respond to and use different interventions, and how they support local traders.
Join us next Thursday for our first online conversation about creating a safe and friendly High Street in Dudley.
Sign up at bit.ly/DudleyHighStre…
Sign up at bit.ly/DudleyHighStre…
