A promising concept

London, it will surprise none of the harried motorists who have to negotiate its chaotic streets, occupies a hallowed place in the History of the Traffic Light.

It was at the top of Parliament Square in December 1868 that a railway engineer named JP Knight introduced a device with rotating green-and-red gas lanterns, in the hope of bringing order to the flow of horses, buggies and pedestrians. Weeks later, the contraption exploded, injuring the policeman operating it. Nevertheless, the traffic light had been born, and now there are 5,000 in the capital and tens of thousands around the UK.

Now a counter-revolution has begun. Its unlikely centre, a few miles from the world's first ill-starred signal, is the solidly Conservative council of Kensington and Chelsea.

Taking its lead from recent high-profile experiments in the Netherlands and Germany, the council wants to begin removing traffic lights. It is part of an audacious campaign by the council to forge modern 'shared streetscapes' where eye contact between motorists and pedestrians and simple common sense replace a 'clutter' of bollards and barriers, traffic lights, street signs and speed cameras.

Building on a radical 'decluttering' of Kensington High Street - where railings have been taken down, kerbs removed, signs packed away, bicycle islands added, and accident numbers cut - the council now hopes to turn Exhibition Road into an open 'naked street' for cars and pedestrians.

It also wants to pilot other minimalist traffic schemes - with the old traffic light firmly in its sights - on selected roads around the borough. Mini-roundabouts do just as well, critics say, as traffic lights in controlling traffic.

Cities around the country will watch with interest as Kensington and Chelsea councillors such as deputy leader Daniel Moylan do battle with health and safety executives who say removing lights could open councils to legal action if there is an accident.

Moylan points to the Dutch town of Drachten, which four years ago took down most of its signs and traffic lights as part of a 'naked streets' experiment. Accident numbers have dropped dramatically. Natural caution and negotiation between drivers and pedestrians have taken over.

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