Panoramic roads

Leisure driving should be pleasure driving

The panoramic road can be seen as a picturesque counterpart to the avenue. It can be awesome to view a city in panoramic view. Roads are seen to destroy peace, quiet and the natural environment. In a few places, these problems can be met head-on by setting out to design an expensive road which will be as exciting to navigate as a great bridge. Dramatic effects can be achieved by making a road pass, in quick succession, underground, beside water, over high land, through a dark wood. Tunnels, fences, walls, mounds and other types of defense can be used to limit the spread of noise and air pollution. In Newcastle a long, high, block of flats, known as the Byker Wall, shelters a housing scheme from a road and a railway to the north. This creates a favourable microclimate to the south. Where barriers are not required, every effort should be made to open up distant views of a city. Panoramic roads give the motorised traveller a sense of the city's layout, scenery and character, in addition to providing a useful traffic artery.