Curb bump-outs

Curb bump-outs in Hoboken – overkill?

There are some instances in any urban setting – where curb bump-outs (you know, where the sidewalk juts out a bit into the street) are warranted.

But it appears that the city is going a bit overboard with them as of late.

Citing “pedestrian safety” and “traffic calming” as reasons to piss property-taxpayer money down the drain, what are we actually getting for the money?

Perceived pedestrian safety. Cars hop curbs ALL the time, and giving people a false-sense of security is not good, especially when they’re heads-down on their phones already. What happened to keeping people on their toes? Nope. “Coddling” has trumped “self-sufficiency” these days.

Bottle-neck potential. Like a tube of toothpaste. I don’t know, physically limiting the road is good on paper, but squeezing traffic through will render all those “Traffic studies” useless. Just watch and see.

Maintenance. The more complicated the arrangement, the more costly it becomes down the line. All these new “features” will translate into repair bills in the future.

Logistics. Those sophisticated curb bump-outs will present issues come winter. Snow plows aren’t ballerinas. Either snow will end up where it’s not supposed to be, or damage will occur (see above).

Emergencies? What if there was some kind of major event where many people (and their cars) had to be evacuated?

People used to follow the “K.I.S.S.” mantra (“Keep It Simple, Stupid!”) Nowadays the city follows the “Complicated, UNnecessary Things!” model instead. Oh well.