Wednesday, March 2
Traffic Control: Don't Drive Through the Fountain
(I wasn't paid to say this...)
I think this is pretty cool. It's from a portfolio of roadway-public space integration schemes by Hamilton-Ballie Associates, an English firm that advocates the "shared street" and, apparently, the "naked street." This intersection once had signals, the caption says, but was redesigned as a roundabout. Instead of outer curbs, though, this roundabout is delineated by fountain jets resembling those in Plaza de César Chávez. What's also special here is that the wall of water rises higher as the amount of traffic in the roundabout increases. It seems the water continues to flow when the roundabout is very lightly used, so a driver won't veer off course if his/hers is the only car in the circle. (Unless the driver wants a free car wash.)
