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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/09/in-praise-of-poynton-intersection

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In praise of … the Poynton intersection In praise of … the Poynton intersection
(about 4 hours later)
Do not let the jargon put you off. The idea of transforming intersections by ripping out the traffic lights, kerbs, road surface markings and letting pedestrians and HGVs "negotiate their own movement", at substantially reduced speeds, is not new. What is known in urban design as a "shared space" has been tried in cities around the world. It has, however, rarely been used at intersections as busy as the one at Poynton, Greater Manchester. Some 27,000 vehicles, 6% of which were HGVs, were thundering through that village each day, making life a misery for all concerned. A year on, the doubters have been confounded. The traffic now pirouettes in single file slowly around two virtual roundabouts and stops for anyone crossing in its path; pedestrians emerge at the top of a new hierarchy of road users. The whole atmosphere of the interchange has been transformed. There are fewer accidents. Shared spaces surely deserve a wider audience. Do not let the jargon put you off. The idea of transforming intersections by ripping out the traffic lights, kerbs, road surface markings and letting pedestrians and HGVs "negotiate their own movement", at substantially reduced speeds, is not new. What is known in urban design as a "shared space" has been tried in cities around the world. It has, however, rarely been used at intersections as busy as the one at Poynton, on the southern fringe of Greater Manchester. Some 27,000 vehicles, 6% of which were HGVs, were thundering through that village each day, making life a misery for all concerned. A year on, the doubters have been confounded. The traffic now pirouettes in single file slowly around two virtual roundabouts and stops for anyone crossing in its path; pedestrians emerge at the top of a new hierarchy of road users. The whole atmosphere of the interchange has been transformed. There are fewer accidents. Shared spaces surely deserve a wider audience.
• This article was amended on 10 May 2013. Poynton is not in Greater Manchester as originally stated, but on its southern edge in Cheshire East. This has been corrected.
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