Remove Kerbside Railings in Cities

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The idea

Kerbside railings are an impediment to the free movement of pedestrians in Cities.

You want to cross to the shop or bus stop directly on the other side. But you are blocked by railings. So you must walk a hundred metres to the traffic lights where the state allows you to cross. By this time, you are in a thick crowd also wanting to cross, that you might have avoided if not for the railings. There is another thick crowd on the other side. The island in the middle of the road is a long narrow cage with narrow doorways and either end. One crowd meets the other on the island, people squeezing though each other, to get to through to opposite end of the island from where they stepped onto it, to exit back into the road.

Once on the other side of the road you begin your walk of a hundred metres back in the opposite direction to the one in which you set out, to get to the shop or bus stop that was directly opposite you when you started.

This is madness. In continental/European cities these things are scarce. They are seldom used, but where they are, they are short.

British cities, such as London, should be practically devoid of them.

Why is it important?

Kerbside railings are excessive nannying by the state. They are symbolic of control-mindedness in government mentalities.

Above all, they are a severe hinderance to physical freedom. True, there is more risk without them, but risk is the flipside to freedom. You cannot have more freedom without more risk. And greater freedom is what the website is all about.

We elect governments to respect our freedom not to hinder it. Urban kerbside railings should be removed.

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