Hi all,

Nearly all London squares have a clockwise one-way system, even though when
all of the roads in and out of the square are one-way, an anti-clockwise
one-way system is superior (because drivers have better visibility when
curving to the left). Many squares, such as St James, have roads which are
wide enough to be two-way, and the squares are large enough that you don't
particularly want to be forced to go the long way around for no reason, so I
don't know why they one-way at all.

Belgrave Square in particular has a phenomenal width of tarmac for no
reason, leading cars to speed up noticeably as they circuit the square, when
making the grassed area a lot larger would lead to a safer and more pleasant
environment while only adding a few seconds to car journeys.

Why are so many London squares one way at all, and how long have they been
like that? Was the entire one-way system from Park Lane to Gower St/Kingsway
created in one go? Has it been regularly modified since?

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

John Rowland:
Nearly all London squares have a clockwise one-way system, even though when
all of the roads in and out of the square are one-way, an anti-clockwise
one-way system is superior (because drivers have better visibility when
curving to the left). ...

Perhaps this was done in preparation for a changeover to driving on the
right. After all, now that Britain is part of the EU...
--
Mark Brader "Outside of nearly having two head-on collisions,
we found driving in England to be fairly easy."
Toronto -- Cher Classick

In message , Mark Brader
writes
John Rowland:
Nearly all London squares have a clockwise one-way system, even though when
all of the roads in and out of the square are one-way, an anti-clockwise
one-way system is superior (because drivers have better visibility when
curving to the left). ...

Perhaps this was done in preparation for a changeover to driving on the
right. After all, now that Britain is part of the EU...

........everyone else ought to come into line with the UK and Ireland!
:-)

ducks

--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , Mark Brader
writes

Perhaps this was done in preparation for a changeover to driving on the
right. After all, now that Britain is part of the EU...

.......everyone else ought to come into line with the UK and Ireland!

.... and Japan, and Australia, And New Zealand, and half the rest of the
world...

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

In message , John Rowland
writes
Why are so many London squares one way at all, and how long have they
been like that? Was the entire one-way system from Park Lane to Gower
St/Kingsway created in one go? Has it been regularly modified since?

On a similar but slightly different note, I've often wondered if the
Aldwych/Strand "D" was always one way from the time it opened?
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

In article ,
says...
In message , John Rowland
writes
Why are so many London squares one way at all, and how long have they
been like that? Was the entire one-way system from Park Lane to Gower
St/Kingsway created in one go? Has it been regularly modified since?

On a similar but slightly different note, I've often wondered if the
Aldwych/Strand "D" was always one way from the time it opened?

There is a 1912 postcard for sale on eBay at the moment which would
suggest two-way traffic at that date. Not the best of photos though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...ry=53582&item=
6144511711

On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 02:19:54 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

Nearly all London squares have a clockwise one-way system, even though when
all of the roads in and out of the square are one-way, an anti-clockwise
one-way system is superior (because drivers have better visibility when
curving to the left). snip

Could this be because it can be seen as one large roundabout, and
people are used to those, whereas one working "in reverse" may cause
confusion?

Neil

--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK
When replying please use neil at the above domain
'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read.

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 9 Jan 2005 02:19:54 -0000, "John Rowland"
wrote:

Nearly all London squares have a clockwise one-way system,

Could this be because it can be seen as one large roundabout,

Exactly, but from a traffic point of view it makes no sense, bnecause a
square is just a city block that happens to have no buildings inside[1], and
there is no rule that every city block has to be one-way clockwise
(obviously). Actually, that's not entirely true, because squares are city
blocks in which all four sides have the same name, leading to drivers
circuiting the square repeatedly trying to find the building they want....
but since drivers have a much better view of buildings on the right, that's
even more reason to circuit squares anti-clockwise.

and people are used to those, whereas one
working "in reverse" may cause confusion?

The angle of the entrance road would force you in the correct direction.

Anyway, Queen Square is all clockwise except for the southeast corner, which
is two way... now *that's* confusing. And Tavistock Square is two-way all
the way around, but the ban on the right turn at the southeast corner means
you can't circuit it clockwise and often have to do a longer journey around
it in an anti-clockwise direction. So there clearly is a rule, but it is
sometimes broken.

[1] except Belsize Square, and probably others.

--
John Rowland - Spamtrapped
Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html
A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood.
That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line -
It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes

John Rowland wrote:

Anyway, Queen Square is all clockwise except for the southeast corner, which
is two way... now *that's* confusing.

Russell Square now has a Northbound bus lane on the East side, so that
that side is 2-way. However, if I remember correctly, there is a
physical barrier (kerbstones or similar) between the two lanes.

--
John Ray

John Ray wrote to uk.transport.london on Sun, 9 Jan 2005:

John Rowland wrote:

Anyway, Queen Square is all clockwise except for the southeast corner, which
is two way... now *that's* confusing.

Russell Square now has a Northbound bus lane on the East side, so that
that side is 2-way. However, if I remember correctly, there is a
physical barrier (kerbstones or similar) between the two lanes.

Only where the bus lane peels off - most Northbound traffic goes left to
go round the square. We were following a bus last time we went past,
and I reminded my husband not to follow the bus through on to the
bus-lane - except the bus then promptly turned left itself, which
confused us both!
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 2 January 2005