A Liverpool university student has created some striking designs that he believes would transform the city.
Todd Lithgow, 20, is studying Town and Regional Planning at the University of Liverpool and has been creating new designs for crucial parts of the city - with a key idea of improving space for walking and cycling and making the city's roadworks safer and greener.
Todd, who is from Nottinghamshire and has just finished his second year, has been gaining praise on social media after sharing designs including a reimagined version of The Strand as well as Princes Avenue in Toxteth and the busy Parliament Square junction near the Baltic Triangle.
He said he first started creating new designs of Liverpool roads and junctions to see what was possible, starting with the roundabout on Princes Avenue, next to Princes Park.
Todd said: "I was able to fit a 'Dutch style' roundabout, which has separate spaces for driving, cycling, and walking, within the existing space, while still being able to let larger vehicles like HGV's and buses through.
"I also wanted to remove the danger of the zebra crossings being situated on blind corners, where I have almost been hit by a car, and have seen others suffer the same experience. It's easy to blame bad driving, but I don't think we should be ignoring the bad road design that allows people to drive dangerously, and often encourages it.
"Merseyside has the highest rate of pedestrians being killed and seriously injured in the UK, which is already significantly higher than the rest of Europe, so clearly something has to be done.
"With this roundabout, and generally with my other designs, it's about controlling risk. You can't remove the risk, people still have to walk or cycle across traffic lanes, but if vehicles are driving more slowly, and drivers can see you from further away, and expect you to be in a certain place, then even if somebody does make a mistake, it is less likely to result in an injury or a fatality. "
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The design that has garnered the most attention on social media is Todd's very green vision for The Strand - the key Liverpool waterfront route that is currently being redeveloped by the city council -somewhat controversially.
His design essentially created a new park on The Strand and offered very few routes for private cars.
He said: "I do not doubt that the current ongoing change to the road will create a moderately better pedestrian experience, and the protected cycle lane is a great first step and shows that the council is thinking about providing new transport options.
"I also don't think traffic will be any worse off despite having less lanes.
"But I do think there is a missed opportunity, granted a radical one, to turn the Strand into a huge public park, with bus/taxi and cycle lanes running the length, and limited access for private motor vehicles.
"I'm sure many people would think it's a crazy idea, but I would argue that, if the Strand was currently a park with bus/taxi lanes limited private vehicle access, it would be even more crazy to suggest that we should build an urban motorway here, just to allow more people to drive to work, and perhaps save them five or 10 minutes.
"Almost everybody who visits Liverpool, including tourists, will cross the Strand at some point, but it's not a destination in its own right, they're most likely going to the docks and the waterfront.
"This is a shame, because it is such a monumental street, full of architectural grandeur on both sides, it could be Liverpool's answer to the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which is coincidentally set to become an urban green space with less space for traffic and more for people.
"Such a transformation would put Liverpool on the map, as not only a UK but a world leader, as it once was and deserves to be."
Todd says his designs are not made to 'force' people out of cars but to make people think differently about the city and the allocation of space.
He said: "There is always going to be a need for some people, and some trips, to be done by car, but people are starting to realise that our current way of thinking overly prioritises the private car, even in situations where the car is obviously the wrong tool for the job.
"We don't have a driving culture because everybody loves and wants to drive all the time, we have one because it's often the most convenient, or the only option.
"Almost half of all households in Liverpool do not own a car, so this prioritisation is leaving hundreds of thousands of people behind."
He added: "While cycling is the quickest, healthiest, most green, and often cheapest mode of transport for a large proportion of trips in Liverpool, beside food delivery couriers and sports cyclists, few people do it, because, above all, it is not treated as a normal and useful mode of transport, and therefore not engineered into our roads and other infrastructure for the most part."
"Changing the culture of how we move around actually has so many benefits in both the short and long term.
"While it will require investment to change streets and junctions so they promote cycling, walking, and public transport, it doesn't have to occur all at once, and the economic benefits of enabling more sustainable transport options will ensure the council has more money to spend in future.
"Where expensive roadworks/maintenance is already happening, the council should be adding things like protected bike lanes and trees, and bus lanes if necessary.
"If you're already ripping up parts of a road or giving it a new surface, it doesn't cost much more to add a few extra kerbs, and install some plants and trees.
"And in some places, they should ask themselves, do we really need private vehicles to go here at all? Or, how can we make this street feel less like a road, even if people can drive down it?"
