United Kingdom authorities repaint the Abbey Road crossing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Image: Instagram/@abbeyroadstudios
The iconic Abbey Road crossing featured on the 1969 Beatles album of the same name has been repainted amid the lockdown imposed on London, United Kingdom over the spread of COVID-19.
Authorities restored the white paint of the crossing last Tuesday, March 24, as per The Guardian on March 27.
“This is a very busy zebra crossing and we repainted the line markings to ensure visibility and increased safety for drivers and pedestrians,” a spokesperson for the Westminster City Council was quoted as saying.
The representative assured that the crew in charge of the repainting followed precautions against COVID-19 such as social distancing and hand washing.
Meanwhile, Abbey Road Studios posted photos of the repainted famous crossing on its Instagram page yesterday.
“Now the streets have gone quiet, the Abbey Road zebra crossing has finally been given a [much-needed] refresh and a new coat of paint,” it said.
The studio also included pictures from August last year, during the 50th anniversary of when The Beatles posed on the crossing for their “Abbey Road” album cover. In contrast to the emptiness brought by the lockdown, the anniversary photos showed people crowding around four men dressed like John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
The popular photo of the band was taken on Aug. 8, 1969, when the band took a short break from recording songs for the “Abbey Road” album, as per report. The crossing was designated as a site of national importance by the British government in 2010.
The album “Abbey Road” yielded some of the band’s greatest songs, namely “Something”, “Here Comes the Sun”, “Oh! Darling” and “Come Together”. JB
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