Who knows when a motorist must suddenly and unexpectedly become a pedestrian? Such as when the vehicle just doesn't run for any number of reasons, like engine problems or a flat tire. However, if a motorist must become a pedestrian on Coal Creek Parkway near the Coal Creek Culvert Replacement Project, that prospect just became considerably more risky, if risky at all before, as of July 1, 2013, if not a day or a few days earlier than that, due to a seemingly arbitrary decision by the work management there to pull in concrete slabs so close to the fence -- on the officially closed walkway (sidewalk) side -- that it is virtually impossible to walk through. So what would a person trying to navigate that area do besides walk in the street, which is dangerous, or try to walk on top of the slabs (can't figure out which one is more dangerous, but both sound like risky prospects)? Not long before or on July 1, there was enough space between the slabs and the fence for a person to safely walk through, but that is no longer the case. To officially close off a relatively short portion of the street to pedestrians at all (and it appears to cut off bicyclists, too) seems arbitrary in and of itself, considering the logistics of the project and that no motor vehicle of any size is similarly impacted, but that's really a side argument to the point that somebody may need to use an officially closed walkway in an emergency situation. There should a very good reason why that should be hazardous, but there doesn't appear to be one.
[revised on 7/13/2013]
