Place Making - High Street Kensington

There have been a lot of articles in the press lately about places in the UK that have been removing clutter and barriers from streets to improve the quality of the public realm. So on a recent trip to London I took the opportunity to visit Kensignton High Street, where such street improvements have been made to see if it works.

Kensington High Street is a bustling retail/commercial street, which incorporates 4 lanes of traffic and a busy tube station. Without the barriers there was a definite sense of freedom on the street as without the barriers you didn't feel trapped on the pavement on one side of the street. Without the barriers there telling you where you can or cannot cross at certain points the road did the 4 lanes did seem more manageable and pedestrians were happy to stroll across whenever they wanted.

As it is a 4 lane busy street, pedestrian crossing points are still needed, however with the removal of the barriers the familiar and personally hated staggered crossing points no longer feel like cattle pens but useful and wide crossing points. What I thought most interesting about them is that you only need to walk the full stagger if you are the first person to cross or if the roads are very busy. Latecomers to the crossing can now cut across at any point allowing more people to cross more directly.

Junctions onto side street were raised to pedestrian levels and clearly paved to create a shared surface. This worked very well, with cars slowing and stopping for pedestrians, and the pedestrians doing the same for the cars. In key locations this raised area gives the impression of a larger public space in which market stalls are present, this gives the impression of a decent sized vibrant public space without pedestrians needing to squeeze around everything.

In order to keep street clutter down to a minimum there is not much seating along the street. Seating was however placed in little setbacks along the street, which allows you to remove yourself from the pedestrian traffic, sit back, relax and watch the world go by.

The only place barriers have not been removed is outside of the tube station. This however proves to been quite a useful stopping place for the people waiting outside of the station where they can lean against it (protecting their backs) while waiting for their friends.

A central reserve is also present along long lengths of the street, which is wide enough to stop and have a chat on or even park your bike. This again makes the road more manageable as you don't have to attempt to cross it all at once but then don't feel trapped on a narrow ledge when you do stop halfway.

I really enjoyed the short time spent on this street, on what was a very busy Saturday afternoon both in terms of pedestrians and vehicles. Although the street was busy it never felt crowded or you never felt trapped as you knew crossing the road was an easy and safe option when you needed too. I now find it odd that anyone would worry about removing barriers on any street smaller that this when it works so successfully here!