A few weeks ago I ran a quickie post on motorists that treat sidewalks as their private parking spaces.
The front entrance of the Delta Hotel on Queen Street is already a bit tough for pedestrians to get to or to get by. Ever since it was built by Teron & Ian Johns with wide sidewalks, the walks have been chipped away and replaced by more traffic lanes, queueing lanes, stopping lanes, and now the patio at the front entrance has been taken over as a taxi stand, often leaving just inches of space to squeeze out onto the city sidewalk.
On Monday I mentally scolded a black gangsta limo for parking on the front city sidewalk. On Wednesday I was much more annoyed to find it was still there. If you look carefully at the rear seat headrests, you may notice the LED emergency lighting. There was similar stuff over the front window. So this car can flash and glow just like a real police car when required. Must be a genuine VIP. The vehicle parked about 20′ behind it (but on the street!) was another black SUV, with cute half-size cherry-lights sticking out of the roof and window panels. The guard.
Who’s in town, I wondered. The PM and all those wanna-be PM’s all have houses here (or in the case of Gilles, on the “other side”). Whomever it was, I don’t feel favorably inclined towards you, or your cause, because you arrogantly abrogate the sidewalk as your private parking space.
Surely that’s private property we’re looking at? There is no “sidewalk” there at all.
That would be a protection detail, most likely, and yes, they can and will park where necessary to provide the protection duty they are assigned to. They have parked to avoid blocking the vehicle entrance to the hotel for guests while still providing quick exit in case it is needed. For the pedestrians that need to easily walk around the vehicles it is much less of a disturbance than if they parked in the drop off area – which I will say would also block pedestrians as cars tried to pull in and drop off passengers.
But what about those with mobility issues who can’t “easily walk around” the vehicles blocking the sidewalk (note the word is walk)? I’m so tired of some people and groups deciding that their wants come above what we as a society have decided is basic.
Curtis: it most assuredly is the public sidewalk. Like many buildings, they repave the sidewalk with pavers to match their property. But if isn’t the sidewalk … where is the sidewalk? There is a traffic lane, a stop-off lane, this paver area with curb dips that aligns with the sidewalk elsewhere on the property, and there is the drop-off lane.
Mike: I recognize that they find it convenient to park on the sidewalk. They did have alternatives. For example, the taxi parking area … the outdoor smoking “sidewalk” … even the car stop lane parallel to the street. Why is it that car users mustn;t be inconvenienced, but pedestrians can? It is just typical of the disregard shown to pedestrians.
Get a life.