Dear Sir,
Re: the bolardos, those short curb posts to set sidewalks off from streets.
From this pedestrian’s perspective the bolardos serve a welcome protective role. From a driver’s perspective I’m sure that the space inside the little bolardo soldiers feels frustratingly lost to them as perfectly useful parking area.
Generally sidewalk area is very inviting to both motorists and street vendors. Then too it’s a good spot for pedestrians to come to a complete standstill for a chat in the middle of a leisurely stroll. Of course this activity is best performed with tightly locked elbows so as to create an invincible barrier to traffic from both directions.
However, sometimes all this results in quite a good stretch of fairly smooth unused roadway. It’s far easier to walk along here, away from the obstacles on the sidewalk. No parked cars, vendors, conversation blockades or broken tipsy sidewalk slabs. I’ve had some lovely walks along stretches of roadway such as this. So if you have no bolardo soldiers, keep your eye open for roadway stretches like that.
Pauline Van Havere,
Guadalajara