- Londoners have been advised to stay home as the city went into lockdown last week amid the coronavirus pandemic.
- These lockdown measures closed bars, restaurants, parks, and other facilities, leaving popular London destinations empty.
- Without tourists crowding the iconic Abbey Road zebra crossing, the city was able to give it a fresh coat of paint.
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The zebra crossing located outside Abbey Road Studios is one of London’s most popular tourist spots. Each year, thousands of Beatles fans travel to London to walk across the six white stripes and recreate the iconic “Abbey Road” album cover.
But on Friday, the city went into lockdown. Nonessential businesses – including bars, restaurants, theaters, and gyms – temporarily closed, leaving the streets and tourist hotspots empty.
While the priority of the lockdown is to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, the city also saw it as an opportunity for maintenance work.
On Tuesday, city workers gave the Abbey Road crossing a fresh coat of paint.
Twitter users described watching as the number of tourists slowly dwindled, leaving behind an everyday crosswalk.
I became obsessed with the Abby Road webcam last week as there were fewer and fewer tourists taking photos there and it started looking like just another zebra crossing. Now you hardly see any pedestrians at all https://t.co/4nSHgarZLW
— G. S. Wilkinson (@garyswilkinson) March 25, 2020
Typically the crossing is packed with tourists, as pedestrians dodge traffic in an attempt to copy the iconic album cover.
The crossing's popularity pushed the city to register it for historic preservation in 2010. Castles, theaters, and cathedrals often earn the title, but this was the first for a crosswalk. The declaration means the crossing can only be altered with the approval of local authorities, according to Reuters.
The crossing experienced one of its most crowded days yet when the album celebrated its 50th anniversary in August.
Current scenes https://t.co/RHeKhwfYbh pic.twitter.com/Ll33CQxTR4
— Tash Salmon (@Tash_Salmon) August 8, 2019
Now, with a lack of tourists, the crossing is largely deserted. However, EarthCam has a livestream of the crosswalk, which features fresh paint and a pedestrian or two.