Oxford Circus, the heart of London’s West End shopping and entertainment district, got a Tokyo-style makeover with a new “scramble crossing” layout.
London Mayor Boris Johnson launched the new scheme, aimed at cutting crowd congestion and the lengthy traipse round the interchange. People are now able to walk diagonally across to their destination in a pedestrian free-for-all.
The design, which also saw barriers and street clutter ripped out, is based on a busy crossing in Shibuya, the Japanese capital’s equivalent of London’s West End.
“This project is a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old-fashioned common sense,” Johnson said.
“The head-scratching frustration caused by the previous design is over and we’ve brought one of the world’s greatest crossroads into the 21st century.
“Being able to cross in an oblique rather than a perpendicular fashion will make Oxford Circus incredibly more efficient for the millions of pedestrians and road users that use the crossing every year.”
The changes cost £5 million (NT$265.4 million) and took six months to complete. Johnson’s office said it would be Europe’s busiest diagonal crossing.
In homage to the crossing’s Japanese origins, Johnson struck a two-meter gong as Japanese musicians played taiko drums.
At peak periods, up to 32,000 pedestrians per hour pass through Oxford Circus, the intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street.
“Taking our inspiration from the Far East makes perfect sense as the Japanese have perfected the art of managing large numbers of people through good design and engineering,” said Westminster City Council leader Colin Barrow.
(AFP)
倫敦西區購物娛樂中心「牛津圓環」改頭換面,呈現東京風格的「多向人行穿越道」新設計。
倫敦市長柏瑞斯.強森推動這項新計畫,旨在解決該區人潮擁擠和耗時費力兜圈過街的問題。有了多向人行穿越道,民眾現在可以走對角線穿越馬路,抵達目的地。
仿效涉谷一處繁忙十字路口打造的這個設計,還移除了原有的分隔島和路障;涉谷之於東京就像西區之於倫敦。
強森說:「這項計畫是英國工程、日本創意和好的常識的一大勝利。」
「之前令人頭痛又挫折的設計已經結束,我們設計了二十一世紀全球最頂尖的十字路口之一。」
「能走對角、不必繞直角過街的設計,將大大增加牛津圓環每年數百萬行人和用路者用路的便捷性。」
這項更新計畫耗資五百萬英鎊(新台幣兩億六千五百四十萬元),歷時半年才完成。市長辦公室表示,這會是歐洲最繁忙的對角人行穿越道。
為了向該設計原創國日本致敬,強森在日本樂師擊打太鼓的樂聲中,敲響一面兩百公分大的鑼。
每逢尖峰時刻,往來牛津圓環(攝政街和牛津街交叉路口)的人潮每小時高達三萬兩千人。
西敏市議會議長柯林•巴洛說:「我們向遠東取經再適合不過了,因為日本向來擅長以良好的設計和工程來管理大量人口。」
(法新社╱翻譯:袁星塵)
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