Is this High St design ridiculous or am I just stupid?

[Rockstick]

Where I live an old, run down mini shopping precinct has been demolished to make way for housing and a row of shops facing a "High St"

Previously the road was a dual carriageway with a narrow pavement on each side.

They've made the road into single carriage (it also remains to be seen if that's a sensible move) and widened the pavement. The lamp posts have been left where they were, so right in the middle.of the ew pavement...where.if youre stupid enough they're very easy to walk straight into...

I can't say it's something that would bother me or even something that I'd likely even notice. It might be they left them in place simply because it's cheaper than moving them, it could be to make sure the wider pavement remains properly lit for pedestrians.

It’s stupid. Stupidity is currently the order of the day. It’s what happens when the idea of hiring people based on merit gets ditched.

It’s not unusual to have street lights in the middle of walkways or pedestrianised areas. Why would people just walk into them?

Moving lampposts would add to the cost. Unless neither side of the new pavement is wide enough for a wheelchair then moving the posts sounds like a bad use of council tax.

This

Its extremely poor planning for the visually impaired, the councils who don’t give a shit about the visually impaired do stupid things like lights on walking areas.

If people aren't being hired based on merit now, what are they being hired for?

They can walk the walk and talk the talk (and have acres of shiny qualifications to prove it) but do they have a degree in common sense? No.

Is this High St design ridiculous or am I just stupid?...
if you're stupid enough [the lamp posts] are very easy to walk straight into...

Rockstick, did you walk into a lamp post?

Yes...

Nobody has a degree in common sense because, of course, such degrees don't exist. But surely if someone is able to both walk the walk and talk the talk then they're capable of doing the job they're there to do? It's those who can't walk the walk that are not able to do what they promise.

Or is there something else you're trying to hint at?

Pedestrianised areas are littered with street furniture. Trees, lights, seating, bollards, post boxes, planters, signage... Should all those be removed? If they move the lighting to the periphery of large paved areas then surely that would mean that the centres would only be dimly lit which presumably wouldn't be great for the visually impaired?

Yes, obstructions should all be at the sides, not randomly strewn about. A paved area would need to be gigantic for a visually impaired person with good enough vision to benefit from light, for it to be an issue.

OK. So the needs of a subset of the visually impaired should take precedence over the needs of those who need shade from trees, the needs of those who are mobility impaired and require seating, the need for protection from vehicles driving through pedestrianised areas (bollards), the needs of those who have letters to post, those who need to be directed to where they want to go (signage), and the needs of those whose visual impairments require good lighting everywhere rather than just at the peripheries.

I take your point, but in the case the op describes the lampposts aren’t ’randomly strewn about’ - they’re exactly where they always were, just there’s now pavement both sides of them.

oh dear

Are you okay?

There's no such degree? Well you could knock me down with a feather.

I have no idea what you two are on about 🤣

This project sounds like it could have been designed by either highways (who have civils degrees) or landscape architects (who have LA degrees).

Both actual degrees which take many years.

We are saying that lots of people have all sorts of degree qualifications but that doesn't necessarily mean they have any common sense.

Yes sure but design in this context is not common sense to them, this is literally their expert field.

The most likely reason this has occurred is the scheme got value engineered and either they were supposed to move the lights, or the lights were supposed to be with other stuff - ie. Planters or seating and it got cut. And it hasn’t happened. Or the latter items have been delayed and it will be a later stage to spread the cost.

Sheesh.