In Victorian times, children were seen and not heard. In the 20th century, road-users were hounded and herded. In the 21st century, with a few notable exceptions such as Poynton, road-users are still hounded and herded. Even in creative Totnes, the traffic authorities lord it over the community with regulation that does expensive harm. The junction of Cistern St and the Western by-pass is a travesty of urban design. Despite progressive ideas made manifest in Poynton, and specific briefings about how things should be done, the traffic committee persists in squandering public money on additional regulation, when they should be spending it wisely on treating existing examples of dangerous road design.
