Tuesday, December 15, 2009

New Sidewalk at Somerset House

Pedestrian safety has been an issue at Bank and Somerset ever since the intersection reopened after the initial collapse in October 2007. Last Friday, a new (albeit 'temporary') sidewalk was installed to settle the matter for good:

Here's what pedestrians had to contend with, in a photo from early April 2009. Coming from the East along Somerset, you get almost the whole block and then the sidewalk is cut off by the boarding to protect pedestrians in the event the rest of the wall falls...

Coming from the West, the sidewalk just withers away gradually (photo cropped, taken mid-October 2009). The City was considering extending the enclosure all the way to the edge to further discourage pedestrian passage.

Luckily, this inexpensive bollard-and-asphalt arrangement was chosen instead, and pedestrians can once more safely pass through this stretch of Somerset.

Since this photo was taken, little plastic posts were installed to help delineate the new sidewalk for motorists, snow-clearing crews, and visually-impaired pedestrians alike.

No comments:

Post a Comment