Access
We are committed to making Exhibition Road the most accessible
cultural destination in the world. We established a dedicated
‘Access Group’ in 2004, consisting of representatives from
different disability groups, to consult on each stage of the
design.
We are engaging with a wide range of disability groups and
professionals designing the project to ensure that the Council
delivers on its promise to develop a design that will reconcile the
needs of different disability groups and create an exciting new
space that is safe and accessible for everyone to enjoy.
Features to improve access include:
- a single surface to pave the length of Exhibition
Road
- removal of kerbs to make it easier to move around for
wheelchair users, those with pushchairs, motorised scooters and
elderly people
- a logical, simple road layout including the removal of barriers
and street clutter that create unnecessary obstacles
- black drainage channel covers four metres out from the building
line on each side of Exhibition Road, to provide a clear signal to
young children and partially sighted people that these sections of
Exhibition Road are ‘safe areas’
- wide strips of ‘corduroy’ warning tactile – ridged paving used
to warn blind and partially sighted people of a hazard and to
proceed with caution – alongside the drainage channel cover, to
alert blind people to the edge of the ‘safe area’
- wide, direct controlled pedestrian crossings
We are working with Imperial College to monitor the existing use
of Exhibition Road and will continue to monitor road usage for up
to two years after the scheme is implemented to assess the safety
of the road.