Intelligent Space to help 'Britain's worst street'

06 March 2003

Streatham High Road was voted as Britain's Worst Street in a 2002 poll by CABE and the BBC Today Programme. Since then, TfL, Lambeth and the Town Centre Management have taken positive steps to change the High Road with the “Drivethru’ to Destination” masterplan that will promote the needs of pedestrians, shoppers, cyclists and public transport users before the requirements of traffic on the A23.

Atkins, the lead consultants of the masterplan, brought on board Intelligent Space Partnership, a pedestrian movement consultancy, to support the proposed walking improvements with innovative analysis. Intelligent Space undertook surveys of pedestrian flows to identify areas where severance is a problem and to evaluate how well existing crossing facilities are located. A computer program was used to analyse high-resolution maps of the High Street and calculate the ‘desire lines’ for pedestrian movement, based on what pedestrians can see at ground level as they move around. This analysis was used to help the design team assess where new crossings for pedestrians will have the maximum benefit.