Mmm. Closing the stretch of road right outside the theatre 'to prevent terrorism' wasn't about pedestrianising the area for the sake of tourism at all: https://stratfordobserver.co.uk/news/anti-terrorism-plans-to-close-road-to-traffic-scrapped/

Why can't they just replace the trees along there and benches for folks to rest like it used to be.

The whole thing just makes me so upset and angry.

I've always thought barriers along each side of the road would be useful - it'd stop people stepping out in front of cars without looking where they're going.

Lex, I don't think the traffic went that fast along there. Maybe its busier now, I don't know.

Having driven along there on many an occasion, I can in all honesty tell you that the pedestrians are a nightmare. No, I'm not going fast enough to kill anyone, but if a pedestrian was to wander in front of me (has happened several times) and I was a little slow to hit the brakes, it would really ruin someone's day out.

Wherever possible, I'm for having a solid fixed barrier between vehicles and pedestrians, as many streets used to have.

I make a habit of keeping in 2nd gear, and resting my hand on my horn on that road. It's amazing how many people just walk out into the road, looking straight ahead; I've even sounded my horn at someone who was looking at the screen of his smartphone while videoing where he was going; he looked surprised when I honked my horn just before he stepped out into the road a couple of yards in front of me.

Do you mean like railings? Have you a picture or link how it used to be?

I was thinking of railings, but I'm not aware that there were ever any along there Margaret. But in the 60s/70s most Coventry main roads were lined with railings, pedestrian spaces appeared every 100 yards or so. - It certainly protected pedestrians.