Ever noticed how many London sidewalks have become obstacle courses lately? One slab higher than the next? Some slabs canted sideways? Others cracked and sinking inward? Year after year, freezes, thaws and downpours render our urban footways more uneven. It craves wary walking.
The problem is substandard installation: insufficient soil compaction, insufficient gravel underlay, stingy concrete pours. The solution is certainly not what the city's providing: grinding bevels on upraised edges, and packing black asphalt into low spots. The grinding doesn't correct the unevenness, and the asphalt is as unsightly as patches on a business suit. Both makeshifts leave the impression of a hick town that can't do the basics properly in the first place and can't be bothered properly fixing the inevitable damage. Once upon a time we'd have replaced these sections, and done it right.
A quarter-inch height difference in adjoining slabs is enough to stub the toe of an incautious pedestrian. In today's London, variations can be as much as two inches.
Does no one at City Hall walk? It's time they had to. Bureaucrats there who think ground-off edges and black-top patching are the answer to that are clearly not thinking of users who might have impaired vision or mobility issues. Or people of any age who expect to be able to walk down a sidewalk confidently without having to worry about each footstep. Or visitors who look at our streets and think, “My God, when did this city start turning into a slum?”
Our mayor, council and city hall bureaucrats all need to be taken out of their cars for at least one month each season or, better yet, for a whole year, so they might learn how the other half lives. They should try getting around town and accomplishing everyday tasks by bus and by walking only --- no bumming lifts with friends. They might find it enlightening and then public policy might improve.
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