| Comment | All the things you say would be difficult or impossible are managed routinely, day in day out in cities across mainland Europe which have large central zones for low or zero private vehicle access.
Usually it's done through:
* Having dedicated loading times in the morning and evening, just like we do on Buchanan Street, when goods get brought in for retail units.
* Using much smaller last-mile delivery modes: courier cargo bikes and when that's not possible, ultra small deliver vehicles. It's only in the UK that we seem content allowing HGVs up every street. It's totally unnecessary if you set up delivery hubs around your city centre where goods are transferred to smaller, more nimble and less obtrusive vehicles. Which is what is planned for here.
* Although Glasgow is copying many cities with the idea of sizable a car-free zone, or at the least very car-light zone, in practise there's a range of ways this has been done elsewhere. A common approach is to have some roads still entering deep into this zone from the perimeter, though not having them connect to one another. This allows vehicles to access the central zone when absolutely necessary, but not use it as a shortcut. This allows deliveries and loading throughout the day, as well as taxis to get very close to final destinations, but still keeps the area as a low traffic zone overall. |
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