District 9 Coun. Dave MacKeigan says he’s on a mission to remove the bump-outs on Commercial Street in Glace Bay.
His reasoning? More parking and fewer accidents.
But here’s the thing. Bump outs, or curb extensions, aren’t just chunks of concrete sticking out into the road. They’re designed to make streets safer and friendlier for people walking. They give pedestrians and drivers better visibility when crossing, cut down the distance they’re exposed to traffic, help shield parked cars, and naturally slow vehicles down.
They also enhance the appearance of a street, keep sidewalks clearer in winter by providing snow with a place to go, and generally make the area feel more usable.
Now let’s rewind.
Coun. MacKeigan claims taking them out will solve parking problems and reduce accidents. The problem is that it doesn’t really line up with reality. I’ve lived in Glace Bay my whole life. During that time I can only remember two accidents happening there, and just once when I couldn’t find parking downtown.
When you actually look around – between the on-street spots, the People’s Mall lot and the parking tucked behind businesses – I counted about 105 spaces. Parking isn’t exactly scarce so blaming the bump-outs feels like looking for a problem that isn’t there.
Instead of tearing things down just to say we did, how about we actually fix the problem? The bump-outs on Commercial Street aren’t completely useless, but right now they’re kind of half-baked. They really only do two things: protect parked cars and hold a bit of greenery. That’s fine, but they could be so much more.
The real issue downtown isn’t parking. It’s crossing the street. Cars park right up against crosswalks, pedestrians pop out from behind vehicles and visibility is terrible. So here’s a better plan: keep some bump-outs, move others and actually make them work for both safety and parking.
Take the one by Scotiabank, for example. Shift it so it lines up with the alley by Town House (the old Scotiabank) and drop a crosswalk right in the middle of it.
The crosswalk by Huang’s? Scrap it and put a new one in the center, lined up with “The Courtyard” alley.
Where Mel’s This and That used to be add a small bump-out tied to the alley for a safer crossing.
The oversized one in front of the old Tim’s? Trim it back to the street pole and put a crosswalk there.
As for Knox Hall, that crosswalk would be gone, but we’d replace it with one right in front of Shoppers where the curb is already lowered.
This way we keep the trees, give pedestrians safer crossings and, bonus, free up some of that parking Coun. MacKeigan keeps going on about.
Instead of ripping out bump-outs just to add asphalt, let’s actually make them work. No need to turn Commercial Street into “New York, the concrete jungle.” We can improve the look of the street, make it safer for people and yes, still get the parking.
And here’s the kicker: safer streets mean busier streets. When people feel comfortable walking downtown, they stick around longer, they cross between shops and they actually spend more money. Making Commercial Street safer isn’t just good urban planning – it’s good business.