Wednesday, August 20, 2014

a touch of blue

 A trial safety measure was implemented in Southampton just days before I
arrived. It was fun to watch the reaction of visitors and locals as they came upon the shocking sight of the blue painted corners of High and Grosvenor Sts. Apparently it has had some mixed reviews.
High Street is very wide and has angled parking which makes it difficult to see traffic while standing at the curb waiting to cross. One person suggested that a crosswalk might have been less unsightly, but drivers still would have had trouble seeing anyone beyond some of these vehicles. These are called bump outs and are meant to slow traffic and give pedestrians better access to cross the street. Each bump out is 10' out onto the road at its widest point.

When I took these pictures it was late on a quiet Sunday afternoon. This is also the less busy end, down by the cenotaph and the lake with the B&Bs lining the street. At this corner is a restaurant, a bank, the post office and a pub.

We also had something similar (though not nearly as bumped out) in my town, but I had no idea what the reasoning was behind the new paint and when I checked to confirm what I remembered as being green, I see it has disappeared.
I'll be interested to see if this is still in place next summer when the experiment is over. At best, maybe the blue will have lost some of it's brightness after the winter wind and snow.


sharing with signs,signs

11 comments:

  1. sort of looks like a pool

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    Replies
    1. ha ha, swim across the street - just stay in your lane!

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  2. Interesting experiment. I don't think any of the blue will be left after the winter! ;-)

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    Replies
    1. the snow plow may have a challenge with those poles, too!

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  3. Replies
    1. it does, rather. though there is a great big lake a mere block away!

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  4. Here blue is used for handicap parking spots.Tom The Backroads Traveller

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    Replies
    1. we also have the blue painted squares for the handicapped. so, in a way, this at least continues with the colour scheme.

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  5. You seem to have very wide streets so I'm not sure such a scheme like that would work here though they do try some peculiar schemes here too.

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    Replies
    1. this is an exceptionally wide street. quite unusual, really.

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