Pedestrian Infrastructure in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia
Contents
Pedestrian Infrastructure in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. 2
Classification and Comparisons. 3
Pedestrian Infrastructure in the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia
Introduction
Pedestrian infrastructure facilities dimensionalities have a substantial impact on pedestrian movement as well as impacting the natural environment of the facilities. Comprehending pedestrian movement is very important in accurately estimating the system capacity, particularly in transport sectors such as airports, bus terminals, and railways stations where large crowd transfer and gather (Vanumu, Rao & Tiwari, 2017). Having a comfortable movement during emergencies and evacuation is very crucial, and thus pedestrian movement patterns need to be modeled and analyzed correctly. It is important to note that no single street design feature that can make the streetscape attractive to the pedestrians. However, the best walking places combine numerous design elements that make the individuals feel comfortable walking one. The purpose of this paper is to provide overview design elements, with examples of successful streetscapes throughout the United States. It provides an overview of infrastructure engineering facilities such as pedestrian sidewalks, walks away, and public spaces in Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom.
Problem
Saudi Arabia’s ministry of transport has laid out extensive road construction programs to curb safety and capacity issues. Its programs include ITS technologies and sophisticated traffic management. Significant upgrades from King Abdullah road have led to a massive expansion from 190,000 to 520,000 vehicles per day by improving the junction layouts and increasing the road’s width. Currently, Saudi Arabia is undergoing major upgrades on its transport infrastructures to ensure that it boosts pedestrian safety and enhance traffic flow rates.
In Riyadh, a Dutch-based company Royal Hasoning DHV has been contracted and given a task to pinpoint 30 transport engineering bottlenecks within Riyadh and come up with solutions that will enhance traffic flow (Al-Shammari, Bendak & Al-Gadhi, 2015). However, even as the government and authorities strive to construct various infrastructures, the sidewalks and walkways still experience a couple of challenges when compared to those in the United Kingdom. Key challenges Saudi Arabia’s infrastructure experiences include traffic flow, design specification issues, promotional billboards, and quality issues due to authorities’ negligence. All these issues make the differences between the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia pavement structure and quality.
Classification and Comparisons
The United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has undergone or undertakes mega infrastructure projects since the arrival of the petrodollars.it has extensively developed a transport network that supports numerous economic developments. As such, the United Kingdom enjoys an extensive transportation network. Major cities in Riyadh are planned along multi-lane highways. The country’s massive expansion in the early 1970s and subsequent urban sprawl led to an environment that was nor walkable. The country’s capital Riyadh became the embodiment of anti-pedestrian. The existing narrow sidewalks were taken by merchants who crowded pedestrians and forcing them to the crowd in the streets and sharing space with cars. The motorways bifurcated neighborhood isolates them from each other. Bridges and tunnels showcase the triumph of infrastructure engineers and the dominance of motorized infrastructure in the United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In the United Kingdom, there are calls for the nation to lower its carbon emission and traffic congestion. Two-thirds of the shopping trips are made by vehicles. These trips are short and potentially workable. In England, walking along the streets comprises about 25% of the entire journey by all modes of transport. The number of foot journeys could potentially increase due to a shift towards green energy and reduction of carbon emission. Statistics show that Bristol city in the United Kingdom has a lower level of walking for shopping. As such, Bristol City County laid out a ten-year walking strategy intending to reverse the trend (Drury, 2020). The ten-year plan made walking or streets walk more pleasant, easier, and safer for every individual.
In Saudi Arabia, most of the people utilize cars to undertake shopping and other activities. Most of the individuals do not walk along the streets like in the United Kingdom. However, there has been an increasing demand for outlets for hiking and exercising. As such, most of Saudi Arabia’s cities have developed sidewalks projects. The municipality of Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh has implemented over 100km sidewalks in its first phase. The last phase of the project sees a total of over 130km of sidewalks and walkways constructed. The sidewalks and walkways infrastructures are converted from road schemes to modern streets to facilitate traffic flow and safety without compromising the urban or architectural structure and environment.
The political system in the United Kingdom enhances and improves the walking environment, thus making significant impacts on the number of individuals walking on the streets. In the 18th Century, the United Kingdom House of Commons enacted a series of Paving Acts. The Paving and Lightning Act allowed the City of London Corporation to construct footways across London streets. The intention was to raise them above street level with curbs and pave them with Purbeck Stones (Drury, 2020). The London Corporation regularly maintains the roads and streets, including regular cleaning and maintenance. The construction of Pont Neuf in Paris shaped several trends of sidewalks streets in the United Kingdom and across Europe. It set the pace for the construction of wide and raised sidewalks isolating the pedestrians from the road traffics. All these efforts enhanced the design and construction of sidewalks and walkways.
Unlike in the United Kingdom, where government and other stakeholders focus so much on enhancing street walkways, sidewalks, and so, in Saudi Arabia, safe walking is hampered with a lot of factors such as loose bricks, potholes, abandoned construction materials and promotion boards. All these challenges are attributed to sheer negligence by authorities and scrupulous promotion adopted by various companies. The design of traffic islands on roads in Saudi Arabia does not provide the opening for entry or exit for pedestrians. The pedestrians in Saudi Arabia experience issues like poor maintenance and unscientific installment of light poles, which at times exposes wires threatening the pedestrian’s safety. In some of the crowded streets in Saudi Arabia cities such as Jeddah, the sidewalk width is below 1 meter, way below the standard width of 1.5 meters. There is a need to redesign the pavements and identification of safe places for promotion.
The construction of pedestrian sidewalks in the United Kingdom is mainly composed of rubber, slab, stone, brick, asphalt, and tarmac. Some materials are less or more environmentally friendly. For instance, the utilization of pumice based trass as an extender consumes less energy than petroleum materials or concrete materials such as asphalt. In the United Kingdom, multi-use paths and streets alongside the roads are constructed using materials that are softer than concrete. Most suburban sidewalks in the United Kingdom are commonly constructed using stones, slaps, or brick based on the surrounding road furniture and architecture. Currently, most constructed sidewalks ribbons are cross-lying strain-relief grooves sawn or placed at intervals of about 1.5 meters apart. These techniques minimize concrete damages due to fluctuations in temperatures and tectonic. Although such a technique is not very perfect since the tree roots and freeze-thaw cycles can cause damage to the product infrastructure maintenance.
In Saudi Arabia, the climate is highly variable and undergoes through numerous freeze-thaw cycles. As a result, the concrete sidewalks are separated by expansion joints to pave the way for thermal expansion without damaging the product. The utilization of expansion joints in sidewalks may not be needed, because the concrete shrinks while at the setting.
Unlike the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia utilizes foamed asphalt in the construction of road bases and pavements. Asphalt technology is utilized with marl, marginal construction material, and reclaimed asphalt pavements. The quality of pedestrian sidewalks, walkways, and pavement in developed countries such as the United Kingdom is high compared to the quality of those in Saudi Arabia. Different factors contribute to varying pavement quality performance. Some of the factors that impact Saudi Arabia’s pavement quality include temperature, traffic, specifications, and designs. Design and specification parameters, including asphalt characteristics, mix composition and design, aggregate stability, and consideration of regional conditions in design, also impact Saudi Arabia’s sidewalks and walkways quality performance (Al-Mosaind, 2018).
Solution
There is a need for redesigning and renovating sidewalks and walkways in Saudi Arabia. The authorities should ensure the international standard sidewalks standard of 1.5 meters is maintained in all the pavements. Saudi Arabia authorities can construct exclusive pavements, sidewalks, and walkways by utilizing mosaic or marble stones with some aesthetic sense like the ones found in the United Kingdom. Authorities also should ensure they identify the sites for promotional billboards. This strategic move will create beautiful and more appealing walkways that make pedestrians more comfortable. Since Saudi Arabia’s climate is highly variable, the pedestrian infrastructures should be separated from joint structures to avoid damages due to freezing and thawing cycles. The walkways and sidewalks design should pave the way for pedestrian entry and exit. The management should ensure that during the construction, they adhere so much to the design specifications, traffic flow, and other components such as aggregate stability to enhance the quality performance of pavements.
Conclusion
Both the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia have experienced tremendous transformation in terms of pedestrian infrastructure facilities. However, there are some distinct differences between the two nation’s pedestrian facilities. The United Kingdom’s sidewalk is comprehensive and has a standard width of 1.5 meters, while in Saudi Arabia, some of the pavement is just below 1 meter. In terms of quality and performance, Saudi Arabia experiences various challenges such as temperature and traffic, asphalt features, and aggregate stability than its counterpart, the United Kingdom. Most of the sidewalks and walkways in the United Kingdom are constructed using stones, while Saudi Arabia mostly utilizes asphalt technology to construct such pedestrian facilities.
References
Al-Mosaind, M. (2018). Applying complete streets concept in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: opportunities and challenges. Urban, Planning, and Transport Research, 6(1), 129-147.
Al-Shammari, N., Bendak, S., & Al-Gadhi, S. (2015). In-depth analysis of pedestrian crashes in Riyadh. Traffic injury prevention, 10(6), 552-559.
Drury C. (2020, February 26). A car free future? How UK cities are moving towards a pedestrian age. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/car-free-cities-pedestrianisation-cycling-driverless-vehicles-york-oslo-birmingham-a9299856.html
Vanumu, L. D., Rao, K. R., & Tiwari, G. (2017). Fundamental diagrams of pedestrian flow characteristics: A review. European transport research review, 9(4), 49.