Plans to do away with barriers between pedestrians and traffic will make one of the Britain's principle tourist destinations a "no-go area" for blind and partially sighted people, leading charities fear.

Every year, 10 million people brave lanes of speeding traffic or use a frequently flooded underpass to get to the Science, Natural History and Victoria & Albert museums along Exhibition Road, west London.

The royal borough of Kensington and Chelsea has given the go-ahead for a £25m scheme to transform the road by scrapping existing "special needs" solutions - such as dropped kerbs, railings and audible crossings - that are intended to protect pedestrians. Planners say they create a more dangerous environment by distracting drivers.

They want to create a "shared space" where vehicles are restricted to 20mph. But reports that car drivers will be forced to slow down and establish eye contact with pedestrians rather than assume they have right of way have angered both the National Federation for the Blind (NFB) and the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB).

Jim Smallman, NFB spokesman, says: "How do blind people establish eye contact with car drivers? We need kerb edges and we need traffic lights, otherwise we will lose any clues."

RNIB campaigns officer, Nicholas Russell agrees that the idea is "ridiculous and potentially dangerous".

The council says plans are still at the concept stage. "But there is already agreement on an inclusive design approach that integrates access for blind people, walking-stick users, people in wheelchairs and other pedestrians with access problems," a council spokesman adds.