As any repeat readers of this blog know by know, I am a big fan of streetscaping.

Nonetheless, as a dedicated pedestrian and cyclist (never owned a car)(dont have  TV either !) some of the ways sidewalks get installed drives me nuts.

Consistency may be the hobgobblin of little minds, but lets have some sympathy for the sidewalk plow crews and pedestrians at some of these intersections where the the sidewalk contorts itself to follow the curb line (of a bulbout) rather than the desire line of the walker.

In the top picture, the sidewalk does not squeeze between the utility box and the post in direct line with the rest of the sidewalk. No, it jogs around the utility box closer to the curb, ie, just where the big pile of snow is. Ironically, on all other three corners of this intersection of Elm and Preston, the sidewalk continues in a straight line to the corner. Predictable. Plowable.

In the second picture, notice that the sidewalk jogs left, glued to the curb line of the bulb out. Notice that the plow continued straight on ….  Now, maybe next year when shrubs are planted along the sidewalks this will appear natural and obvious, but I’m afraid just one plow a year going through the shrubs will cripple them for life. Wouldn’t it have been better to have paved the sidewalk straight AND followed the bulb out?